Division of SCI Research, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA.
Curr Neuropharmacol. 2011 Dec;9(4):574-85. doi: 10.2174/157015911798376299.
We here propose an updated concept of stem cells (SCs), with an emphasis on neural stem cells (NSCs). The conventional view, which has touched principally on the essential property of lineage multipotency (e.g., the ability of NSCs to differentiate into all neural cells), should be broadened to include the emerging recognition of biofunctional multipotency of SCs to mediate systemic homeostasis, evidenced in NSCs in particular by the secretion of neurotrophic factors. Under this new conceptual context and taking the NSC as a leading example, one may begin to appreciate and seek the "logic" behind the wide range of molecular tactics the NSC appears to serve at successive developmental stages as it integrates into and prepares, modifies, and guides the surrounding CNS micro- and macro-environment towards the formation and self-maintenance of a functioning adult nervous system. We suggest that embracing this view of the "multipotency" of the SCs is pivotal for correctly, efficiently, and optimally exploiting stem cell biology for therapeutic applications, including reconstitution of a dysfunctional CNS.
我们在此提出一个更新的干细胞（SCs）概念，重点是神经干细胞（NSCs）。传统观点主要侧重于谱系多能性的基本特性（例如，NSCs 分化为所有神经细胞的能力），应该扩大到包括对SCs 的生物功能多能性的新认识，以介导系统内稳态，特别是在 NSCs 中通过神经营养因子的分泌来证明。在这个新的概念背景下，以 NSC 为例，人们可以开始理解和寻找 NSC 在整合到周围中枢神经系统的微环境和宏环境中并准备、修饰和指导其形成和自我维持功能成熟的神经系统过程中，在连续发育阶段似乎服务的广泛分子策略背后的“逻辑”。我们建议，接受SCs 的“多能性”观点对于正确、有效地利用干细胞生物学进行治疗应用至关重要，包括重建功能失调的中枢神经系统。
