Regenerative potential of the brain: Composition and forming of regulatory microenvironment in neurogenic niches

Abstract

An important mechanism of neuronal plasticity is neurogenesis, which occurs during the embryonic period, forming the brain and its structure, and in the postnatal period, providing repair processes and participating in the mechanisms of memory consolidation. Adult neurogenesis in mammals, including humans, is limited in two specific brain areas, the lateral walls of the lateral ventricles (subventricular zone) and the granular layer of the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus (subgranular zone). Neural stem cells (NSC), self-renewing, multipotent progenitor cells, are formed in these zones. Neural stem cells are capable of differentiating into the basic cell types of the nervous system. In addition, NSC may have neurogenic features and non-specific non-neurogenic functions aimed at maintaining the homeostasis of the brain. The microenvironment formed in neurogenic niches has importance maintaining populations of NSC and regulating differentiation into neural or glial cells via cell-to-cell interactions and microenvironmental signals. The vascular microenvironment in neurogenic niches are integrated by signaling molecules secreted from endothelial cells in the blood vessels of the brain or by direct contact with these cells. Accumulation of astrocytes in neurogenic niches if also of importance and leads to activation of neurogenesis. Dysregulation of neurogenesis contributes to the formation of neurological deficits observed in neurodegenerative diseases. Targeting regulation of neurogenesis could be the basis of new protocols of neuroregeneration.