Jhaveri Dhanisha J, Prosper Boris W, Bartlett Perry F
Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Methods Mol Biol. 2013;1059:41-51. doi: 10.1007/978-1-62703-574-3_4.
It is now well established that a resident population of neural precursor cells continues to generate new neurons in the adult hippocampus throughout life. Numerous studies have suggested that these newborn neurons preferentially participate in the functional hippocampal circuitry that leads to enhancement of learning, cognition and mood. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate the activity of these endogenous precursor cells is paramount to develop novel regenerative strategies for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders. The neurosphere assay has been instrumental in discovering the presence of stem and precursor cell population from several brain regions. In this chapter, we describe this assay to specifically isolate and culture neural stem and precursor cell populations from the adult hippocampus of mice. In addition, we provide methods to conduct detailed assays to examine their functional properties such as proliferation, self-renewal, and differentiation.
现已明确证实，成年海马体中存在一群神经前体细胞，它们在整个生命过程中持续产生新的神经元。大量研究表明，这些新生神经元优先参与功能性海马体回路，从而促进学习、认知和情绪。因此，了解调节这些内源性前体细胞活性的分子机制对于开发治疗神经和精神疾病的新型再生策略至关重要。神经球分析法在发现多个脑区的干细胞和前体细胞群体方面发挥了重要作用。在本章中，我们描述了该分析法，用于从成年小鼠海马体中特异性分离和培养神经干细胞和前体细胞群体。此外，我们还提供了进行详细分析以检测其功能特性（如增殖、自我更新和分化）的方法。
