Institute for Advanced Medical Sciences, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan.
Stem Cells Dev. 2011 Dec;20(12):2037-51. doi: 10.1089/scd.2011.0279. Epub 2011 Aug 12.
Increasing evidence shows that neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) can be activated in the nonconventional neurogenic zones such as the cortex following ischemic stroke. However, the precise origin, identity, and subtypes of the ischemia-induced NSPCs (iNSPCs), which can contribute to cortical neurogenesis, is currently still unclear. In our present study, using an adult mouse cortical infarction model, we found that the leptomeninges (pia mater), which is widely distributed within and closely associated with blood vessels as microvascular pericytes/perivascular cells throughout central nervous system (CNS), have NSPC activity in response to ischemia and can generate neurons. These observations indicate that microvascular pericytes residing near blood vessels that are distributed from the leptomeninges to the cortex are potential sources of iNSPCs for neurogenesis following cortical infarction. In addition, our results propose a novel concept that the leptomeninges, which cover the entire brain, have an important role in CNS restoration following brain injury such as stroke.
越来越多的证据表明，神经干细胞/祖细胞（NSPCs）可以在缺血性中风等非传统的神经生成区域如皮质中被激活。然而，目前仍不清楚缺血诱导的 NSPCs（iNSPCs）的确切起源、身份和亚型，这些细胞可以促进皮质神经发生。在本研究中，我们使用成年小鼠皮质梗死模型发现，软脑膜（脑底脑膜）在中枢神经系统（CNS）中广泛分布并与血管紧密相关，作为微血管周细胞/血管周围细胞，在缺血时具有 NSPC 活性，并能产生神经元。这些观察结果表明，位于软脑膜到皮质分布的血管附近的微血管周细胞可能是皮质梗死后神经发生的 iNSPCs 的潜在来源。此外，我们的研究结果提出了一个新的概念，即覆盖整个大脑的软脑膜在脑损伤（如中风）后中枢神经系统的恢复中具有重要作用。
