title: Growth hormone responsive neural precursor cells reside within the adult mammalian brain.
abstract: The detection of growth hormone (GH) and its receptor in germinal regions of the mammalian brain prompted our investigation of GH and its role in the regulation of endogenous neural precursor cell activity. Here we report that the addition of exogenous GH significantly increased the expansion rate in long-term neurosphere cultures derived from wild-type mice, while neurospheres derived from GH null mice exhibited a reduced expansion rate. We also detected a doubling in the frequency of large (i.e. stem cell-derived) colonies for up to 120 days following a 7-day intracerebroventricular infusion of GH suggesting the activation of endogenous stem cells. Moreover, gamma irradiation induced the ablation of normally quiescent stem cells in GH-infused mice, resulting in a decline in olfactory bulb neurogenesis. These results suggest that GH activates populations of resident stem and progenitor cells, and therefore may represent a novel therapeutic target for age-related neurodegeneration and associated cognitive decline.
authors.affiliation: Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane Queensland, 4072, Australia. d.blackmore@uq.edu.au
authors.forename: Daniel G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Blackmore
authors.forename: Brent A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.forename: Mohammad G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Golmohammadi
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Large
authors.forename: Roberto M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Aguilar
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Haro
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Waters
authors.forename: Rodney L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Rietze
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology*; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D055495:Neurogenesis; D011986:Receptors, Somatotropin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011986:Receptors, Somatotropin; D013006:Growth Hormone