Elucidation of the vascular niche for the neural stem cells

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26460360
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: General medical chemistry
• Research Institution: University of Toyama
• Principal Investigator: Yamamoto Seiji 富山大学, 大学院医学薬学研究部(医学), 助教 (10456361)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 血管 / 神経幹細胞 / EV / niche

Outline of Final Research Achievements

It has been known that adult brain has neural stem cells residing in the niche such as subventricular zone. Cerebral blood vessels are considered to be a source of soluble factors to interact with neural stem cells (NSCs). To clarify this, we conducted coculture experiment using cerebral blood vessel derived endothelial cell line and NSCs. We found that endothelial cell derived extracellular vesicles (E-EVs) included many kind of micro RNAs (miRNAs). In silico and in vitro studies showed that some of them could suppress the expression level of transcription factors that play an important role in neuronal differentiation. By real-time PCR analyses, the endothelial cell line produced a ligand that can activate a receptor type tyrosine kinase (RTK) expressed on the NSCs. Accordingly, we conclude that cerebral endothelial cells supply the two types of soluble factors as a niche for NSCs, which are miRNAs included in E-EVs and the ligand for activating the RTK.

Free Research Field

血管生物学、神経幹細胞学