Mimicking Neural Stem Cell Niche by Biocompatible Substrates

Figure 1

Neural stem cell niche in the early stages of CNS development. (a) During early embryogenesis, neuroepithelial cells transform into radial glial cells (RGCs) with cell process elongating toward the pial surface of the neural tube. RGCs divide asymmetrically to form neuroblasts. (b) Neuroblast division generates progenitors known as “transit-amplifying progenitor cells” (TAPCs), which divide rapidly and generate the first local neural niche or ventricular zone (VZ); at this stage the first blood vessels invade the neural tube from the dorsal region toward the VZ zone and extend their branches tangentially to the pial surface. (c) In the forebrain, TAPC proliferation produces a second germinal zone, the subventricular zone (SVZ). In this zone, postmitotic neuroblasts and glioblasts migrate toward the dorsal intermedia and marginal zones and produce neurons and glial cells. CNS, central nervous system; ECM, extracellular matrix; IZ, intermediate zone; MZ, marginal zone.