Prion diseases and adult neurogenesis: How do prions counteract the brain's endogenous repair machinery?

Scientific advances in stem cell biology and adult neurogenesis have raised the hope that neurodegenerative disorders could benefit from stem cell-based therapy.Adult neurogenesis might be part of the physiological regenerative process; however, it might become impaired by the disease''s mechanism and therefore contribute to neurodegeneration. In prion disorders this endogenous repair system has rarely been studied. Whether adult neurogenesis plays a role or not in brain repair or in the propagation of prion pathology remains unclear. We have recently investigated the status of adult neural stem cells isolated from prion-infected mice. We were able to show that neural stem cells accumulate and replicate prions thus resulting in an alteration of their neuronal destiny. We also reproduced these results in adult neural stem cells, which were infected in vitro. The fact that endogenous adult neurogenesis could be altered by the accumulation of misfolded prion protein represents another great challenge. Inhibiting prion propagation in these cells would thus help the endogenous neurogenesis to compensate for the injured neuronal system. Moreover, understanding the endogenous modulation of the neurogenesis system would help develop effective neural stem cell-based therapies.     

Adult human brain cell culture for neuroscience research

Studies of the brain have progressed enormously through the use of in vivo and in vitro non-human models. However, it is unlikely such studies alone will unravel the complexities of the human brain and so far no neuroprotective treatment developed in animals has worked in humans. In this review we discuss the use of adult human brain cell culture methods in brain research to unravel the biology of the normal and diseased human brain. The advantages of using adult human brain cells as tools to study human brain function from both historical and future perspectives are discussed. In particular, studies using dissociated cultures of adult human microglia, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and neurons are described and the applications of these types of study are evaluated. Alternative sources of human brain cells such as adult neural stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells and slice cultures of adult human brain tissue are also reviewed. These adult human brain cell culture methods could benefit basic research and more importantly, facilitate the translation of basic neuroscience research to the clinic for the treatment of brain disorders.     

TRIM32-dependent transcription in adult neural progenitor cells regulates neuronal differentiation

In the adult mammalian brain, neural stem cells in the subventricular zone continuously generate new neurons for the olfactory bulb. Cell fate commitment in these adult neural stem cells is regulated by cell fate-determining proteins. Here, we show that the cell fate-determinant TRIM32 is upregulated during differentiation of adult neural stem cells into olfactory bulb neurons. We further demonstrate that TRIM32 is necessary for the correct induction of neuronal differentiation in these cells. In the absence of TRIM32, neuroblasts differentiate slower and show gene expression profiles that are characteristic of immature cells. Interestingly, TRIM32 deficiency induces more neural progenitor cell proliferation and less cell death. Both effects accumulate in an overproduction of adult-generated olfactory bulb neurons of TRIM32 knockout mice. These results highlight the function of the cell fate-determinant TRIM32 for a balanced activity of the adult neurogenesis process.     

Comparison of glioma stem cells to neural stem cells from the adult human brain identifies dysregulated Wnt- signaling and a fingerprint associated with clinical outcome

Glioblastoma is the most common brain tumor. Median survival in unselected patients is <10 months. The tumor harbors stem-like cells that self-renew and propagate upon serial transplantation in mice, although the clinical relevance of these cells has not been well documented. We have performed the first genome-wide analysis that directly relates the gene expression profile of nine enriched populations of glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs) to five identically isolated and cultivated populations of stem cells from the normal adult human brain. Although the two cell types share common stem- and lineage-related markers, GSCs show a more heterogeneous gene expression. We identified a number of pathways that are dysregulated in GSCs. A subset of these pathways has previously been identified in leukemic stem cells, suggesting that cancer stem cells of different origin may have common features. Genes upregulated in GSCs were also highly expressed in embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells. We found that canonical Wnt-signaling plays an important role in GSCs, but not in adult human neural stem cells. As well we identified a 30-gene signature highly overexpressed in GSCs. The expression of these signature genes correlates with clinical outcome and demonstrates the clinical relevance of GSCs.     

Induced pluripotent stem cells from hair follicles as a cellular model for neurodevelopmental disorders

Disease-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) allow unprecedented experimental platforms for basic research as well as high-throughput screening. This may be particularly relevant for neuropsychiatric disorders, in which the affected neuronal cells are not accessible. Keratinocytes isolated from hair follicles are an ideal source of patients' cells for reprogramming, due to their non-invasive accessibility and their common neuroectodermal origin with neurons, which can be important for potential epigenetic memory. From a small number of plucked human hair follicles obtained from two healthy donors we reprogrammed keratinocytes to pluripotent iPSC. We further differentiated these hair follicle-derived iPSC to neural progenitors, forebrain neurons and functional dopaminergic neurons.This study shows that human hair follicle-derived iPSC can be differentiated into various neural lineages, suggesting this experimental system as a promising in vitro model to study normal and pathological neural developments, avoiding the invasiveness of commonly used skin biopsies.     

诱导多能干细胞在帕金森病治疗中的应用进展

帕金森病（Parkinson's disease, PD）是由于黑质中多巴胺能神经元（dopaminergic neurons, DAns）的病变导致多巴胺含量降低而引起的一种神经退行性疾病,其发病机制尚不明确,而且临床缺乏有效的早期诊断和治疗手段。诱导多能干细胞（induced pluripotent stem cells, iPSCs）的出现为神经系统疾病特别是神经退行性疾病的治疗带来了希望。基于iPSCs的细胞模型可以广泛开展PD发病机制的研究,同时以iPSCs来源的DAns、神经干细胞（neural stem cells, NSCs）等的细胞移植治疗,更是未来PD治疗最有希望的手段。从基于iPSCs的不同基因突变类型的细胞模型与不同分化程度的细胞移植治疗两个方面介绍诱导多能干细胞在PD研究中的进展,旨在分析诱导多能干细胞在帕金森病方面的应用及不足。     

The adult hair follicle: cradle for pluripotent neural crest stem cells

This review focuses on the recent identification of two novel neural crest-derived cells in the adult mammalian hair follicle, pluripotent stem cells, and Merkel cells. Wnt1-cre/R26R compound transgenic mice, which in the periphery express beta-galactosidase in a neural crest-specific manner, were used to trace neural crest cells. Neural crest cells invade the facial epidermis as early as embryonic day 9.5. Neural crest-derived cells are present along the entire extent of the whisker follicle. This includes the bulge area, an epidermal niche for keratinocyte stem cells, as well as the matrix at the base of the hair follicle. We have determined by in vitro clonal analysis that the bulge area of the adult whisker follicle contains pluripotent neural crest stem cells. In culture, beta-galactosidase-positive cells emigrate from bulge explants, identifying them as neural crest-derived cells. When these cells are resuspended and grown in clonal culture, they give rise to colonies that contain multiple differentiated cell types, including neurons, Schwann cells, smooth muscle cells, pigment cells, chondrocytes, and possibly other types of cells. This result provides evidence for the pluripotentiality of the clone-forming cell. Serial cloning showed that bulge-derived neural crest cells undergo self-renewal, which identifies them as stem cells. Pluripotent neural crest cells are also localized in the back skin hair of adult mice. The bulge area of the whisker follicle is surrounded by numerous Merkel cells, which together with innervating nerve endings form slowly adapting mechanoreceptors that transduce steady skin indentation. Merkel cells express beta-galactosidase in double transgenic mice, which confirms their neural crest origin. Taken together, our data indicate that the epidermis of the adult hair follicle contains pluripotent neural crest stem cells, termed epidermal neural crest stem cells (eNCSCs), and one newly identified neural crest derivative, the Merkel cell. The intrinsic high degree of plasticity of eNCSCs and the fact that they are easily accessible in the skin make them attractive candidates for diverse autologous cell therapy strategies.     

小鼠胚胎干细胞移植入成体大鼠脑内的区域特异性存活与分化

全能区域非特异性的胚胎干细胞是研究成体不同脑区控制干细胞分化能力的十分有力的工具。胚胎干细胞源性神经前体细胞移植入成体脑后可分化为功能性神经元,但是未分化的胚胎干细胞在成体脑内各个部位的存活、生长与分化的潜能差异尚不清楚。本文旨在探讨成体脑组织对胚胎干细胞的影响及胚胎干细胞在成体脑内的一系列行为。将少量转绿色荧光蛋白未分化的小鼠胚胎干细胞移植入成体大鼠脑内不同部位,分别于移植5、14和28d后处死大鼠,进行形态学观察及免疫组化定性,以了解未分化的小鼠胚胎干细胞在大鼠脑内不同区域的存活、生长与分化。结果发现未分化的小鼠胚胎干细胞可逐步整合入受体组织并向nestin阳性神经前体细胞分化。移植细胞及其后裔在海马生长最为旺盛,而在隔区最差（P〈0．01）;移植细胞分化为神经干细胞的效率也是在海马最高,而在隔区最低（P〈0．01）。提示只有部分脑区适合胚胎干细胞及其后裔生存,并提供促进其分化的有益环境。因此,由于位置特异的微环境因子及环境因素的存在,宿主组织特性对决定中枢神经系统疾病的细胞替代疗法策略是相当重要的。     

Cell replacement therapies for nervous system regeneration

The adult brain was thought to be a slowly decaying organ, a sophisticated but flawed machine condemned to inevitable decline. Today we know that the brain is more plastic than previously assumed, as most prominently demonstrated by the constitutive birth of new neurons that occurs in selected regions of the adult brain, even in humans. However, the overall modest capacity for endogenous repair of the central nervous system (CNS) has sparked interest in understanding the barriers to neuronal regeneration and in developing novel approaches to enable neuronal and circuit repair for therapeutic benefit in neurodegenerative disorders and traumatic injuries. Scientists recently assembled in Baeza, a picturesque town in the south of Spain, to discuss aspects of CNS regeneration. The picture that emerged shows how an integrated view of developmental and adult neurogenesis may inform the manipulation of neural progenitors, differentiated cells, and pluripotent stem cells for therapeutic benefit and foster new understanding of the inner limits of brain plasticity.     

新物种诱导多能干细胞的研究进展

胚胎干细胞（embryonic stem cells,ESC）在人类遗传病学研究、疾病模型建立、器官再生以及动物物种改良和定向变异等方面的地位是其他类型的细胞不可取代的。但是,由于实验技术和体外培养条件的限制,除了小鼠、恒河猴和人之外,大鼠、猪、牛、羊等其他哺乳动物的ES细胞系被证明很难获得。先后有多个研究小组报道了他们利用新兴的诱导多能干细胞（induced pluripotent stem cells,iPS细胞）技术成功建立大鼠和猪的iPS细胞系的研究成果。迄今为止,这两个物种是在未成功建立ES细胞系之前利用iPS技术建立多能干细胞系的成功范例。这些研究对于那些还未建立ES细胞的物种建立多能干细胞系提供了一种新的方案,也将给这些物种的胚胎干细胞的建立、基因修饰动物的产生以及人类医疗事业的促进和发展带来新的希望。     

WJSC 6th Anniversary Special Issues（2）:Mesenchymal stem cells Brain mesenchymal stem cells:The other stem cells of the brain?

Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells(MSC),have the potential to differentiate into cells of the mesenchymal lineage and have non-progenitor functions including immunomodulation.The demonstration that MSCs are perivascular cells found in almost all adult tissues raises fascinating perspectives on their role in tissue maintenance and repair.However,some controversies about the physiological role of the perivascular MSCs residing outside the bone marrow and on their therapeutic potential in regenerative medicine exist.In brain,perivascular MSCs like pericytes and adventitial cells,could constitute another stem cell population distinct to the neural stem cell pool.The demonstration of the neuronal potential of MSCs requires stringent criteria including morphological changes,the demonstration of neural biomarkers expression,electrophysiological recordings,and the absence of cell fusion.The recent finding that brain cancer stem cells can transdifferentiate into pericytes is another facet of the plasticity of these cells.It suggests that the perversion of the stem cell potential of pericytes might play an even unsuspected role in cancer formation and tumor progression.     

神经干细胞移植的临床研究进展

神经系统损伤会导致脑内神经干细胞（neural stem cells,NSCs）的扩增以实现自我修复功能,而通过外源细胞移植的方式来加速这一进程,可能是一种更有效的治疗手段。当前,神经干细胞临床研究所面临的主要问题是如何评价细胞在移植后的行为和功能。该文综述了近几年使用神经干细胞移植治疗几种主要神经系统疾病的临床研究成果,并着重关注了干细胞移植后的示踪研究。     

Adult neurogenesis in non-mammalian vertebrates

Adult neurogenesis is an exciting and rapidly advancing field of research. It addresses basic biological questions, such as the how and why of de novo neuronal production during adulthood, as well as medically relevant issues, including the potential link between adult neural stem cells and psychiatric disorders, or how stem cell manipulation might be used as a strategy for neuronal replacement. Current research mainly focuses on rodents, but we review here recent examination of non-mammalian vertebrates, which demonstrates that bona fide adult neural stem cells exist in these species. Importantly, especially in teleost fish, these cells can be abundant and located in various brain areas. Hence, non-mammalian vertebrate species provide invaluable comparative material for extracting core mechanisms of adult neural stem cell maintenance and fate.     

Induced pluripotency and direct reprogramming: a new window for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are pluripotent cells that have the ability of unlimited self-renewal and can be differentiated into different cell lineages, including neural stem (NS) cells. Diverse regulatory signaling pathways of neural stem cells differentiation have been discovered, and this will be of great benefit to uncover the mechanisms of neuronal differentiation in vivo and in vitro. However, the limitations of hESCs resource along with the religious and ethical concerns impede the progress of ESCs application. Therefore, the induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) via somatic cell reprogramming have opened up another new territory for regenerative medicine. iPSCs now can be derived from a number of lineages of cells, and are able to differentiate into certain cell types, including neurons. Patient-specific iPSCs are being used in human neurodegenerative disease modeling and drug screening. Furthermore, with the development of somatic direct reprogramming or lineage reprogramming technique, a more effective approach for regenerative medicine could become a complement for iPSCs.     

Efficient derivation of human neuronal progenitors and neurons from pluripotent human embryonic stem cells with small molecule induction

There is a large unfulfilled need for a clinically-suitable human neuronal cell source for repair or regeneration of the damaged central nervous system (CNS) structure and circuitry in today's healthcare industry. Cell-based therapies hold great promise to restore the lost nerve tissue and function for CNS disorders. However, cell therapies based on CNS-derived neural stem cells have encountered supply restriction and difficulty to use in the clinical setting due to their limited expansion ability in culture and failing plasticity after extensive passaging(1-3). Despite some beneficial outcomes, the CNS-derived human neural stem cells (hNSCs) appear to exert their therapeutic effects primarily by their non-neuronal progenies through producing trophic and neuroprotective molecules to rescue the endogenous cells(1-3). Alternatively, pluripotent human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) proffer cures for a wide range of neurological disorders by supplying the diversity of human neuronal cell types in the developing CNS for regeneration(1,4-7). However, how to channel the wide differentiation potential of pluripotent hESCs efficiently and predictably to a desired phenotype has been a major challenge for both developmental study and clinical translation. Conventional approaches rely on multi-lineage inclination of pluripotent cells through spontaneous germ layer differentiation, resulting in inefficient and uncontrollable lineage-commitment that is often followed by phenotypic heterogeneity and instability, hence, a high risk of tumorigenicity(7-10). In addition, undefined foreign/animal biological supplements and/or feeders that have typically been used for the isolation, expansion, and differentiation of hESCs may make direct use of such cell-specialized grafts in patients problematic(11-13). To overcome these obstacles, we have resolved the elements of a defined culture system necessary and sufficient for sustaining the epiblast pluripotence of hESCs, serving as a platform for de novo derivation of clinically-suitable hESCs and effectively directing such hESCs uniformly towards clinically-relevant lineages by small molecules(14) (please see a schematic in Fig. 1). Retinoic acid (RA) does not induce neuronal differentiation of undifferentiated hESCs maintained on feeders(1, 14). And unlike mouse ESCs, treating hESC-differentiated embryoid bodies (EBs) only slightly increases the low yield of neurons(1, 14, 15). However, after screening a variety of small molecules and growth factors, we found that such defined conditions rendered retinoic acid (RA) sufficient to induce the specification of neuroectoderm direct from pluripotent hESCs that further progressed to neuroblasts that generated human neuronal progenitors and neurons in the developing CNS with high efficiency (Fig. 2). We defined conditions for induction of neuroblasts direct from pluripotent hESCs without an intervening multi-lineage embryoid body stage, enabling well-controlled efficient derivation of a large supply of human neuronal cells across the spectrum of developmental stages for cell-based therapeutics.     

Generation of rabbit pluripotent stem cell lines

Pluripotent stem cells have the capacity to divide indefinitely and to differentiate into all somatic cells and tissue lines. They can be genetically manipulated in vitro by knocking genes in or out, and therefore serve as an excellent tool for gene function studies and for the generation of models for some human diseases. Since 1981, when the first mouse embryonic stem cell (ESC) line was generated, many attempts have been made to generate pluripotent stem cell lines from other species. Comparative characterization of ESCs from different species would help us to understand differences and similarities in the signaling pathways involved in the maintenance of pluripotency and the initiation of differentiation, and would reveal whether the fundamental mechanism controlling self-renewal of pluripotent cells is conserved across different species. This report gives an overview of research into embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells in the rabbit, an important nonrodent species with considerable merits as an animal model for specific diseases. A number of putative rabbit ESC and induced pluripotent stem cell lines have been described. All of them expressed stem cell-associated markers and maintained apparent pluripotency during multiple passages in vitro, but none have been convincingly proven to be fully pluripotent in vivo. Moreover, as in other domestic species, the markers currently used to characterize the putative rabbit ESCs are suboptimal because recent studies have revealed that they are not always specific to the pluripotent inner cell mass. Future validation of rabbit pluripotent stem cells would benefit greatly from a validated panel of molecular markers specific to pluripotent cells of the developing rabbit embryos. Using rabbit-specific pluripotency genes may improve the efficiency of somatic cell reprogramming for generating induced pluripotent stem cells and thereby overcome some of the challenges limiting the potential of this technology.     

Stem cell therapy for retinal diseases

In this review, we discuss about current knowledge about stem cell(SC) therapy in the treatment of retinal degeneration. Both human embryonic stem cell and induced pluripotent stem cell has been growth in culture for a long time, and started to be explored in the treatment of blinding conditions. The Food and Drug Administration, recently, has granted clinical trials using SC retinal therapy to treat complex disorders, as Stargardt’s dystrophy, and patients with geographic atrophy, providing good outcomes. This study ’s intent is to overview the critical regeneration of the subretinal anatomy through retinal pigment epithelium transplantation, with the goal of reestablish important pathways from the retina to the occipital cortex of the brain, as well as the differentiation from pluripotent quiescent SC to adult retina, and its relationship with a primary retinal injury, different techniques of transplantation, management of immune rejection and tumorigenicity, its potential application in improving patients’ vision, and, finally, approaching future directions and challenges for the treatment of several conditions.     

干细胞与再生医学研究进展

干细胞具有分化成为体内所有类型细胞的能力,因此,其在再生医学治疗、体外疾病模拟、药物筛选等方面具有广阔的应用前景。干细胞技术在近些年取得了突飞猛进的发展,特别是诱导多能性干细胞的出现使干细胞领域经历了一场巨大的变革。我国干细胞研究在这场干细胞技术变革中取得了多项重大成果,逐渐成为了世界干细胞研究领域中的重要力量。本综述着重介绍近几年来,主要是诱导多能性干细胞技术出现之后,我国在干细胞和再生医学领域取得的重要进展,主要涵盖诱导多能性干细胞、转分化、单倍体干细胞以及基因修饰动物模型和基因治疗等方面。     

干细胞治疗感音神经性耳聋

治疗内耳疾病的主要困难之一是找到耳蜗毛细胞或者螺旋神经元丢失所导致的听力损失的治疗方法。本文讨论使用干细胞替代感觉细胞丢失为目的的几个治疗策略。作者最近在成年内耳中发现了可以分化为毛细胞的干细胞,发现了胚胎干细胞可在体外转化为毛细胞并表达毛细胞标记物。在动物模型中,成年内耳干细胞、神经干细胞和胚胎干细胞来源的前体细胞可分化成为毛细胞和神经细胞。本文将讨论使用干细胞再生损伤毛细胞的不同方法,介绍几种可行的动物模型,并讨论发展基于干细胞的细胞替代疗法治疗内耳损伤中存在的困难。