2023-10-11 20:15:51
Adult neurogenesis is the generation and integration of new neurons once the embryonic development of the brain has concluded. This phenomenon is driven by the proliferation, survival and differentiation of a population of neural stem cells that remain in the adult brain and reside in specific microenvironments (the neurogenic niches).
A new study shows that Kidins220 is a key molecule in the survival of neural stem cells and the generation of new neurons or neurogenesis in the adult brain.
The study was carried out by a team headed by Ana del Puerto, from the Network Biomedical Research Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (CIBERNED) and the National Institute of Agricultural and Food Research and Technology (INIA), attached to the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC). ), in Spain all these entities.
“Deciphering the molecular foundations of the regulated activation that neural stem cells must undergo to proliferate, survive and generate new cellular progeny in adult brains is of great relevance. This helps us understand why the regenerative capacity of the brain is limited and what we can do to increase it in aging or neurodegenerative diseases,” comments Eva Porlan, one of the authors of the study and researcher at the Severo Ochoa Molecular Biology Center (CBMSO). ), joint center of the UAM and the CSIC.
Members of the research team. (Photo: CIBER / UAM)
KIDINS220 (Kinase D interacting substrate of 220 kDa), is a protein that regulates several molecular pathways, and its expression is altered in various neurodegenerative diseases, such as Huntingon’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and chronic adult hydrophephaly, BUT in children, in neuropsychiatric diseases, such as schizophrenia, as well as in cancer.
“In the study, mice with low levels of Kidins220 showed severe neurogenic deficits and impaired spatial memory. Our results provide new and revealing data on new functions of Kidins220, a gene related to human neurological, neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, and position Kidins220 as a molecular player in the process of adult neurogenesis, which may help pave the way towards neurorepair ”, concludes Teresa Iglesias, CSIC research professor at the Sols-Morreale Biomedical Research Institute (IIBM) and head of the CIBERNED group.
The study is titled “Kidins220 sets the threshold for survival of neural stem cells and progenitors to sustain adult neurogenesis.” And it has been published in the academic journal Cell Death & Disease. (Source: CIBER / UAM)
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