Neurogenesis: a Striatal Supply of New Neurons
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RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS Nature Reviews Neuroscience | AOP, published online 5 March 2014; doi:10.1038/nrn3714 NEUROGENESIS A striatal supply of new neurons Frisén and colleagues recently showed markers. This indicates that the stria- neurons and oligodendrocytes were that new neurons are born every day tum contains not only neuroblasts substantially lower in post-mortem in the adult human hippocampus. In but also newborn neurons. striatum tissue from patients with newborn a follow-up study, the same research The authors next made use of a Huntington’s disease than in tissue neurons are group now reports that neuroblasts birth-dating method that is based on from healthy controls. This suggests are present in the human striatum the 14C content of a cell’s DNA, which that newborn neurons are particu- particularly throughout life, that they generate is thought to reflect 14C levels in the larly vulnerable to the pathological vulnerable striatal neurons — mainly interneu- atmosphere at the time of the birth processes associated with this disease. to the rons — and that newly generated of the cell. Atmospheric 14C levels Thus, humans show quite promi- striatal neurons are preferentially peaked in the middle of the twentieth nent neurogenesis in the striatum pathological depleted in Huntington’s disease. century (as a result of nuclear bomb but none in the olfactory bulb. This processes It is well known that in rodents, tests) and declined after 1963; thus, contrasts with the pattern of promi- associated 14 adult neurogenesis occurs in the the level of C in DNA can be used as nent olfactory bulb neurogenesis and with subventricular zone (SVZ) in the a relatively precise marker of a cell’s limited striatal neurogenesis in many wall of the lateral ventricle, from birth date. other mammals. The functional role [Huntington’s] where neuroblasts migrate to the Application of this birth-dating of newborn striatal neurons and disease olfactory bulb. The adult human method to nuclear DNA from human the importance of their depletion SVZ also contains neuroblasts, but neurons from different brain areas in Huntington’s disease are unclear, no neurogenesis has been detected revealed that for a minority of SVZ but they will be intriguing issues to in the human olfactory bulb. Frisén and striatum neurons, 14C levels explore in future research. and colleagues therefore set out to matched the 14C levels that were establish whether SVZ neuroblasts present in the atmosphere after — Leonie Welberg might migrate elsewhere. rather than in — the individual’s birth ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER Ernst, A. et al. Transcriptome data, western blot year, suggesting that these neurons Neurogenesis in the striatum of the adult human analysis and immunohistochemistry were generated after the individual brain. Cell http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. of post-mortem human brain tissue was born. This was not the case for cell.2014.01.044 (2014) revealed the expression of the neuro cortical, cerebellar and olfactory bulb blast marker doublecortin (DCX) in neurons. Computer modelling of the the adult human striatum (as well data showed that the best-fit model as in the SVZ and hippocampus). was one in which 25% of SVZ and DCX-expressing cells contained striatal neurons showed turnover. no or very little lipofuscin (an age The authors further showed that pigment), suggesting that they were neuron turnover was restricted young cells. Importantly, in post- to striatal interneurons (which mortem tissue from patients with make up ~25% of striatal neurons) cancer who had received iodode- rather than medium spiny neurons. oxyuridine (IdU) — which is incor- Non-neuronal cells in the striatum, porated into nuclear DNA during including oligodendrocytes, also cell division — the authors detected showed renewal. IdU-labelled cells in the striatum Finally, the authors used the (as well as in the hippocampus) that 14C birth-dating method to show also expressed one or more neuronal that the turnover rates for both J. Vallis/NPG NATURE REVIEWS | NEUROSCIENCE VOLUME 15 | APRIL 2014 © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.