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A circuit‐based gatekeeper for adult neural stem cell proliferation
Author(s) -
Moss Jonathan,
Toni Nicolas
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.201200136
Subject(s) - subgranular zone , neurogenesis , neural stem cell , dentate gyrus , neuroscience , biology , gabaergic , stem cell , microbiology and biotechnology , neuroepithelial cell , neurosphere , neurotransmitter , hippocampus , subventricular zone , cellular differentiation , adult stem cell , central nervous system , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , biochemistry , gene
Newborn neurons are generated in the adult hippocampus from a pool of self‐renewing stem cells located in the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the dentate gyrus. Their activation, proliferation, and maturation depend on a host of environmental and cellular factors but, until recently, the contribution of local neuronal circuitry to this process was relatively unknown. In their recent publication, Song and colleagues have uncovered a novel circuit‐based mechanism by which release of the neurotransmitter, γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA), from parvalbumin‐expressing (PV) interneurons, can hold radial glia‐like (RGL) stem cells of the adult SGZ in a quiescent state. This tonic GABAergic signal, dependent upon the activation of γ 2 subunit‐containing GABA A receptors of RGL stem cells, can thus prevent their proliferation and subsequent maturation or return them to quiescence if previously activated. PV interneurons are thus capable of suppressing neurogenesis during periods of high network activity and facilitating neurogenesis when network activity is low.