New highway for stem cells identified in the human brain
Unique research has led to the discovery of an anatomical structure for the transport of stem cells in the brain. The structure is believed to be important in the case of brain injury or brain disease.
The research results will be published in the respected scientific journal Science. Work has been done in close cooperation between researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, Karolinska Institute and the University of Auckland in New Zealand. It has long been known that animals have a large number of stem cells in the brain cavity. Stem cells migrate into the brain tissue via a special transport structure. Researchers have now found a corresponding structure in the human brain.
“We´ve succeeding in tracing the "stem cell highway" that we´ve thought for a long time must also exist in humans. Stem cells normally move through an approximately three centimeter long pathway to the olfactory bulb (the organ that conveys smells to the brain) and, there, build new nerve cells during the animal´s entire life time," says Professor Peter Eriksson at Sahlgrenska Academy, leader of the research.
The researchers believe that the newly discovered structure is important for brain injury and brain disease since animal studies have shown that stem cells are recruited to the injured area.
During the work of charting the movement of stem cells the researchers found that the pathway was organized around a previously unknown pipe structure about one and a half millimeters thick. This pipe structure connects the brain´s ventricles with the olfactory bulb and is filled with the fluid that exists in the brain´s cavity. The structure can now be identified with a magnetic camera technique on its pathway in the olfactory nerve and olfactory bulb.
“At first we were very surprised when we started to suspect that the transport pathway is organized around a pipe structure filled with fluid, but when we made comparisons with other animals such as pigs and sheep we found that these animal species also have this structure," says Peter Eriksson.
The researchers will continue to chart stem cells in the structure, which they call the ventriculo-olfactory neurogenic system, or VONS.
“We primarily want to understand the role that stem cells play in the brain in injuries such as stroke and trauma and diseases such as Alzheimers and Parkinsons," says Peter Eriksson.
Journal: Science
Title: Human Neuroblasts Migrate to the Olfactory Bulb via a Lateral Ventricular Extension
Authors: Maurice A. Curtis, Monica Kam, Ulf Nannmark, Michelle F. Anderson, Mathilda Zetterström Axell, carsten Wikkelsö, Stig Holtås, Willeke M.C. van Roon-Mom, Thomas Björk-Eriksson, Claes Nordborg, Jonas Frisén, Michael Dragunow, Richard L.M. Faull, Peter S. Eriksson.
