Abstract
Adult neurogenesis has been extensively studied in rodent animals, with distinct niches found in the hippocampus and subventricular zone (SVZ). In non-human primates and human postmortem samples, there has been heated debate regarding adult neurogenesis, but it is largely agreed that the rate of adult neurogenesis is much reduced comparing to rodents. The limited adult neurogenesis may partly explain why human brains do not have self-repair capability after injury or disease. A new technology called “in vivo cell conversion” has been invented to convert brain internal glial cells in the injury areas directly into functional new neurons to replenish the lost neurons. Because glial cells are abundant throughout the brain and spinal cord, such engineered glia-to-neuron conversion technology can be applied throughout the central nervous system (CNS) to regenerate new neurons. Thus, compared to cell transplantation or the non-engineered adult neurogenesis, in vivo engineered neuroregeneration technology can provide a large number of functional new neurons in situ to repair damaged brain and spinal cord.
Highlights
Human brain has billions of neurons and even more number of glial cells
Neurons cannot divide and they do not self-regenerate after injury, but glial cells can proliferate upon injury or disease
We have summarized the well-documented sites of adult neurogenesis in mammalian brains (Figure 1)
Summary
Human brain has billions of neurons and even more number of glial cells. Neurons cannot divide and they do not self-regenerate after injury, but glial cells can proliferate upon injury or disease. To overcome the limitation of endogenous neurogenesis, scientists transplanted external stem cells into the brain or spinal cord in order to regenerate new neurons in any injured areas regardless whether it is close to a neurogenic niche or not. This typically involves in vitro cell cultures to expand the stem cells or even partially differentiate the stem cells toward some fate-determined neuroprogenitor cells. This review will focus on this new emerging technology of in vivo engineered neurogenesis and compare with in vitro engineered neurogenesis as well as the endogenous neurogenesis in the hippocampus and subventricular zone
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