Insights into the Biology and Therapeutic Applications of Neural Stem Cells

Table 1

Molecular regulators of NSC in adult SGZ and SVZ. Summary of molecular regulators of adult NSC, grouped into ligands, neuropeptides, neurotransmitters, epigenetic, cell cycle regulators, and transcription factors.

Molecule/regulator	Key finding	Ref
Ligands
Notch	Activation promotes quiescence	[9, 10]
Bmp	Activation promotes quiescence	[11–13]
Wnt	Promotes NSC symmetric division	[14]
Tgf-	Promotes quiescence and survival	[15]
Neuropeptides
Npy	Induces proliferation, migration, and differentiation of NSC	[16–19]
Neurotransmitters
GABA	Maintains adult NSC quiescence	[20]
Epigenetic
Chd7	Maintains adult NSC quiescence	[21]
Dnmt1/3a	Increased expression in differentiating NSC; upregulation favours neurogenic fate	[22, 23]
Gadd45	Required for expression of extrinsic factors from mature granule neurons that modulate neurogenesis	[24]
Hdac2	Required for NSC differentiation and appropriate expression of progenitor markers	[25]
Mbd	Loss-of-function reduces neurogenesis	[26]
Tet1	Positively regulates NSC proliferation	[27]
Cell cycle regulators
p21	Maintains quiescence and negatively regulates SOX2 expression	[28, 29]
p27	Maintains quiescence	[30]
p57	Maintains quiescence	[31, 32]
Transcription factors
Foxo3	Maintenance of progenitor cells and quiescence	[33, 34]
Ascl1	Controls neuron fate commitment; overexpression produces oligodendrocytes	[35–38]; [39]
Nfix	Maintains NSC quiescence in vitro	[39]
Pax6	Maintenance of NSCs	[40]
Sox2	Maintains NSC self-renewal through Shh signalling	[41, 42]
Tbr2	Required for generation of Intermediate Progenitors in DG	[43]
Tlx	Required for NSC self-renewal through WNT and neuron fate commitment through Mash1	[36, 44, 45]
Rest	Maintenance of NSC	[46]