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First published online January 25, 2006

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Nucleotide signalling grows up

What extracellular signalling mechanisms control adult neurogenesis? In the adult mouse, neurons are formed in two brain regions, the subventricular zone (SVZ) and the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. In previous studies, Zimmermann and colleagues have shown that stem cells in these regions express NTPDase2, an extracellular nucleotide hydrolyzing enzyme (also called ecto-nucleotidase) that modulates cell communication by nucleotide receptors. They have now taken this further by investigating whether adult neural stem cells (NSCs) respond to extracellular nucleotide signalling itself (see p. 675). The researchers used NTPDase2-expressing neurospheres (clonal aggregates of NSCs) derived from the SVZ. Using Ca²⁺-imaging, they show that these neurospheres express the nucleotide receptors P2Y₁ and P2Y₂. The activation of these receptors increased cell proliferation synergistically with epidermal growth factor and fibroblast growth factor 2, and the researchers confirmed this in P2Y₁-knockout mice. Although synergism between extracellular nucleotides and growth factors has long been considered important in the brain, this is the first study to demonstrate an effect in adult NSCs.

Related articles in Development:

Extracellular nucleotide signaling in adult neural stem cells: synergism with growth factor-mediated cellular proliferation

Santosh K. Mishra, Norbert Braun, Varsha Shukla, Marc Füllgrabe, Christof Schomerus, Horst-Werner Korf, Christian Gachet, Yukio Ikehara, Jean Sévigny, Simon C. Robson, and Herbert Zimmermann
Development 2006 133: 675-684. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Development Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content