The neural stem cell microenvironment

In mammals, neural stem cells appear early in development and remain active within the central nervous system for the whole life duration of the organism. During this developmental process they assume different cellular morphologies and reside within changing microenvironments whilst retaining the basic properties of a stem cell: multipotentiality and the ability to self renew. In this chapter, the basic morphological characteristics of neural stem cells will be reviewed, along with the fundamental structural components and signalling molecules of their microenvironments. In early neural development, when the patterning of the nervous system is established, neural stem cells are called neuroepithelial cells; they are situated among other neuroepithelial cells and they are exposed to various signals such as retinoic acid, sonic hedgehog and fibroblast growth factors. When neurogenesis commences, stem cells are transformed to radial glial cells and the complexity of their microenvironment increases due to the emergence of various types of neuronal progenitors, differentiated cells and extracellular signaling molecules. Finally, during adulthood, neural stem cells assume astroglial morphology and reside in specific microenvironments that are called neurogenic niches; small neurogenic islands where neurons and glia are continuously generated under the control of mechanisms largely similar to those operating during embryonic development.