圖片說明:缺少cdk5基因的新生神經細胞(綠色)形成異常樹突,與先前已存在的神經細胞(紅色)和神經膠質細胞(藍色)成為一體。(圖片來源:瑞士蘇黎世聯邦理工學院/Sebastian Jessberger)
美、德、瑞士等國科學家報告說,成體神經幹細胞中的一個特定基因的失活,會使由這些幹細胞形成的神經細胞在大腦中錯誤的位置形成連接。研究論文發表在11月11日的《PloS生物學》(PLoS Biology)上。
研究人員發現,一種名為cdk5的蛋白質對樹突的正確建立和組成樹突的細胞的恰當遷移都是必須的。研究小組領導人、美國索爾克生物學研究所的Fred H. Gage說:「令人驚奇的是,在成人海馬組織中,缺少cdk5的新生粒細胞所形成的樹突向錯誤的方向生長,事實上與『錯誤』的細胞建立了神經連接。」
論文第一作者、瑞士蘇黎世聯邦理工學院副教授Sebastian Jessberger表示,「研究數據顯示,沒能正常生長的神經細胞可能也會與大腦連接起來並幹擾正常的信息處理」,而且,「錯誤的神經連接並不會很快消失,甚至在1年以後,一些出現錯誤連接的神經細胞仍然留在了大腦的海馬區。」
Gage說:「我們的研究表明,對於發展相應腦部療法的研究人員來說,要保證療法中涉及的細胞正確生長,這樣才能形成合適的而不是混亂的神經連接。」
這一發現為腦損傷或神經退行性疾病療法的研究人員提供了非常有價值的信息,可能會對神經組織移植產生深遠的影響。(生物谷Bioon.com)
生物谷推薦原始出處:
PLoS Biology,doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060272,Sebastian Jessberger,Fred H. Gage
Cdk5 Regulates Accurate Maturation of Newborn Granule Cells in the Adult Hippocampus
Sebastian Jessberger1,2*, Stefan Aigner1, Gregory D. Clemenson Jr.1, Nicolas Toni1, D. Chichung Lie1,3, ?zlem Karalay2, Rupert Overall4, Gerd Kempermann4, Fred H. Gage1*
1 Laboratory of Genetics, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California, United States of America, 2 Institute of Cell Biology, Department of Biology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, 3 Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Munich, Germany, 4 Center for Regenerative Therapies (CRTD), Dresden, Germany
Newborn granule cells become functionally integrated into the synaptic circuitry of the adult dentate gyrus after a morphological and electrophysiological maturation process. The molecular mechanisms by which immature neurons and the neurites extending from them find their appropriate position and target area remain largely unknown. Here we show that single-cell–specific knockdown of cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (cdk5) activity in newborn cells using a retrovirus-based strategy leads to aberrant growth of dendritic processes, which is associated with an altered migration pattern of newborn cells. Even though spine formation and maturation are reduced in cdk5-deficient cells, aberrant dendrites form ectopic synapses onto hilar neurons. These observations identify cdk5 to be critically involved in the maturation and dendrite extension of newborn neurons in the course of adult neurogenesis. The data presented here also suggest a mechanistic dissociation between accurate dendritic targeting and subsequent synapse formation.