Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics & Molecular, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Regen Med. 2009 Nov;4(6):879-97. doi: 10.2217/rme.09.61.
An interdependent relationship between the vascular and nervous systems begins during the earliest stages of development and persists through the mammalian lifespan. Accordingly, the process of adult neurogenesis involves the coordinated response of both systems to maintain a specialized microenvironment (niche) that tips the scale towards maintenance or regeneration, as needed. Understanding the nature and regulation of this balance will provide a foundation on which the potential for molecular- and stem cell-based therapies can be developed to treat prevalent CNS diseases and disorders. The vasculature is cited as a prominent feature within the adult subventricular zone and subgranular zone, known adult neural stem cell niches, helping to retain neural stem and progenitor cell potential. The vascular compartment within the neural stem cell niche has the unique opportunity to not only regulate neural stem and progenitor cells through direct contact with, and paracrine signaling from, endothelial and mural cells that make up blood vessels, but also integrates systemic signals into the local microenvironment via distribution of soluble factors from blood circulation to regulate stem cell niche behavior. Understanding the intricate role that the vasculature plays to influence neural stem cells in the context of niche regulation will help to bridge the gap from bench to bedside for the development of regeneration-based therapies for the CNS.
血管系统和神经系统之间的相互依存关系始于发育的早期阶段，并贯穿哺乳动物的整个生命周期。因此，成体神经发生的过程涉及到两个系统的协调反应，以维持一个专门的微环境（龛），根据需要向维持或再生倾斜。了解这种平衡的性质和调节机制将为基于分子和干细胞的治疗方法的发展提供基础，以治疗常见的中枢神经系统疾病和障碍。血管系统被认为是成年室下区和颗粒下区（已知的成年神经干细胞龛）中的一个突出特征，有助于保持神经干细胞和祖细胞的潜力。神经干细胞龛中的血管区室不仅有机会通过与构成血管的内皮细胞和周细胞的直接接触和旁分泌信号来调节神经干细胞和祖细胞，而且还可以通过从血液循环中分布可溶性因子将全身信号整合到局部微环境中，从而调节干细胞龛的行为。了解血管系统在龛调节中影响神经干细胞的复杂作用将有助于弥合从基础研究到临床应用的差距，为中枢神经系统的再生治疗方法的发展提供帮助。
