Neural stem cells in the adult mouse hippocampus. Green: the stem cells and their progeny express protein. Magenta: the hippocampal stem cells generate newborn neurons. Blue: mature granule neurons. (Image: University of Basel, Department of Biomedicine)
To date, it has been assumed that the differentiation of stem cells depends on the environment they are embedded in. A research group at the University of Basel now describes for the first time a mechanism by which hippocampal neural stem cells regulate their own cell fate via the protein Drosha. The journal Cell Stem Cell has published their results. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that have the potential to differentiate into many cell types. However, the cell types that somatic stem cells produce are usually restricted to those of the organ in which they sit. The current view proposes that stem cell differentiation is controlled by their local environment, the so-called niche. Thus, stem cells receive and interpret specific factors present in their niche that guide their differentiation into specific and restricted cell types.
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