Abstract:

Similarly to other adult tissues, a hierarchical structure has been established for the brain, where the differentiated cell types (neurons, oligodendrocytes and astrocytes) are generated from primary progenitor cells, known as type B astrocytes or neural stem cells (NSC), through one or multiple stages of amplification (transient amplifying cells) that generate precursors (iPC) with more restricted potential nIPCs (neural), aIPCs (astrocytes), oIPC (oligodendrocytes). In the adult rodent brain, NSCs and iPCs are mainly restricted to the niches on the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the lateral ventricles. This hierarchical structure of the brain is critical for the understanding brain development and adult neurogenesis, to develop new strategies for brain repair, or for the understanding of brain tumor development. In conclusion, the use of mAbs recognizing surface markers on either NSC or neuroblasts open up a series of possibilities, for example, they allow to purify these cells from cell suspensions, identify them cells in their niches, or demonstrate in vivo their migration towards damage sites. In addition allows envisaging the possibility of identifying the focal sites on epileptic brains after a seizure, or on initial stages of Parkinson or Alzheimer’s. Finally, if the mAb anti-NSC recognizes the CSC in human gliomas, it might turn out as the first therapeutic drug targeting neural CSC.