title: Glia-like stem cells sustain physiologic neurogenesis in the adult mammalian carotid body.
abstract: Neurogenesis is known to occur in the specific niches of the adult mammalian brain, but whether germinal centers exist in the neural-crest-derived peripheral nervous system is unknown. We have discovered stem cells in the adult carotid body (CB), an oxygen-sensing organ of the sympathoadrenal lineage that grows in chronic hypoxemia. Production of new neuron-like CB glomus cells depends on a population of stem cells, which form multipotent and self-renewing colonies in vitro. Cell fate mapping experiments indicate that, unexpectedly, CB stem cells are the glia-like sustentacular cells and can be identified using glial markers. Remarkably, stem cell-derived glomus cells have the same complex chemosensory properties as mature in situ glomus cells. They are highly dopaminergic and produce glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor. Thus, the mammalian CB is a neurogenic center with a recognizable physiological function in adult life. CB stem cells could be potentially useful for antiparkinsonian cell therapy.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Universidad de Sevilla, Avenida Manuel Siurot s/n, Sevilla 41013, Spain.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pardal
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ortega-Sáenz
authors.forename: Rocío
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Durán
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: López-Barneo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002344:Carotid Body / Q000166:cytology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D015687:Cell Hypoxia; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000166:cytology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen