The Journal of Neuroscience, April 22, 2009, 29(16):5075-5087; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0201-09.2009
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Development/Plasticity/Repair
Brain Injury Does Not Alter the Intrinsic Differentiation Potential of Adult Neuroblasts
Fang Liu,1 *
Yan You,1 *
Xiaosu Li,1
Tong Ma,1
Yanzhen Nie,1
Bin Wei,1
Tiejun Li,2
Huanbing Lin,3 and
Zhengang Yang1
1Institutes of Brain Science and State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Fudan University, 200032 Shanghai, People's Republic of China, 2Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, 200433 Shanghai, People's Republic of China, and 3Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, 510515 Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Zhengang Yang, Institutes of Brain Science and State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Fudan University, 138 Yi Xue Yuan Road, 200032 Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Email: yangz{at}fudan.edu.cn
Neuroblasts produced by the neural stem cells of the adult subventricular zone (SVZ) migrate into damaged brain areas after stroke or other brain injuries, and previous data have suggested that they generate regionally appropriate new neurons. To classify the types of neurons produced subsequent to ischemic injury, we combined BrdU or virus labeling with multiple neuronal markers to characterize new cells at different times after the induction of stroke. We show that SVZ neuroblasts give rise almost exclusively to calretinin-expressing cells in the damaged striatum, resulting in the accumulation of these cells during long term recovery after stroke. The vast majority of SVZ neuroblasts as well as newly born young and mature neurons in the damaged striatum constitutively express the transcription factor Sp8, but do not express transcription factors characteristic of medium-sized spiny neurons, the primary striatal projection neurons lost after stroke. Our results suggest that adult neuroblasts do not alter their intrinsic differentiation potential after brain injury.
Received Jan. 14, 2009;
revised Feb. 21, 2009;
accepted March 10, 2009.
Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Zhengang Yang, Institutes of Brain Science and State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Fudan University, 138 Yi Xue Yuan Road, 200032 Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Email: yangz{at}fudan.edu.cn
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