Abstract
In the central nervous system (CNS), which comprises the eyes, spinal cord, and brain, neural cells are produced by the repeated division of neural stem cells (NSCs) during the development of the CNS. Contrary to the notion that the CNS is relatively static with a limited cell turnover, cells with stem cell-like properties have been isolated from most neural tissues. The microenvironment, also known as the NSC niche, consists of NSCs/neural progenitor cells, other neurons, glial cells, and blood vessels; this niche is thought to regulate neurogenesis and the differentiation of NSCs into neurons and glia. Although it has been established that neurons, glia, and blood vessels interact with each other in a complex manner to generate neural tissues in the NSC niche, the underlying molecular mechanisms in the CNS niche are unclear. Herein, we would like to introduce the extracellular secreted protein, Akhirin (AKH; Akhi is the Bengali translation for eye). AKH is specifically expressed in the CNS niche—the ciliary body epithelium in the retina, the central canal of the spinal cord, the subventricular zone, and the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus—and is supposedly involved in NSC niche regulation. In this review, we discuss the role of AKH as a niche molecule during mouse brain formation.
Highlights
The expression of AKH in the central canal ependymal cells is very low or not observed in the central canal at postnatal day 30 (P30), AKH expression is rapidly upregulated in ependymal cells after spinal cord injury, suggesting that AKH is involved in post-injury neuronal neogenesis [19]
In the brain niche area, the thereby resultingofinNSCs, ventricular expansion in deficiency inhibits proliferation resulting in a decrease in th patients with hydrocephalus
The physiological functio brain formation, such as neurogenesis, vasculogenesis, and immunocompetence, more studies are needed to clarify the functional consequences of the defects in brain formation in AKH-/- mice
Summary
The central nervous system (CNS; eyes, spinal cord, and brain) acts as a controller that receives, sorts, and organizes information from all over the body and sends the corresponding commands, which is vital for survival. The CNS is formed by the repeated division and proliferation of neural stem cells (NSCs) and neural progenitor cells (NPCs). Equilibrium between cell proliferation and differentiation between the two cell populations, NSCs and NPCs, is important for CNS development. AKH is expressed in the ciliary marginal zone of the retina [18], the middle and ventral central canal of the spinal cord [19], and the SVZ and the DG of the hippocampus in the mouse CNS [20]. After summarizing the molecular structure of AKH and its role in the eye and spinal cord, we mainly discuss its role in the brain as a niche regulator in the CNS
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