Association of neural progenitor cells with dimentia in the human cerebral cortex

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K06903
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 46020:Anatomy and histopathology of nervous system-related
• Research Institution: Mukogawa Women's University
• Principal Investigator: OHIRA Koji 武庫川女子大学, 食物栄養科学部, 准教授 (80402832)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 大脳皮質 / 成体神経新生 / 認知症

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We have discovered new neural progenitor cells in the cerebral cortex of adult rodents and marmosets (L1-INP cell; Ohira et al., 2010, 2019). In this study, we studied whether L1-INP cells are related to Alzheimer's disease using histological methods.
L1-INP cells were detected in the cerebral cortex of healthy human postmortem brains. In addition, when compared with the brain after death of Alzheimer's disease patients, it showed a lower density than healthy subjects. When the density between regions of the cerebral cortex was compared, the temporal lobe showed lower values. However, since the number of samples is small, it is necessary to analyze the correlation with the density change of other nerve cells as they increase in the future.

Free Research Field

神経科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

これまで、L1-INP細胞が発見された動物種は、げっ歯類のラットとマウス、霊長類のマーモセットの3種であった。本研究により、高齢のヒトにおいて、L1-INP細胞を同定できたことは、今後の臨床応用にとって必須の知見である。さらに、L1-INP細胞の密度を、健常者とアルツハイマー病患者の死後脳で比較したところ、アルツハイマー病患者では低値を示すことがわかった。まだ解析したサンプル数が少ないために、慎重に研究を進める必要があるが、大脳皮質の神経新生が、アルツハイマー病の新しい病態である可能性が示唆された。