Question

Neural stem cells (NSCs) give rise to all cells of the nervous system. You have uncovered a potentially new sight of neurogenesis within the rodent substantia nigra and isolated the cells. These cells have shown to be an important site of where neurogenesis needs to occur after neurodegeneration to prevent diseases. Your principal investigator wants you to do a series of experiments to fully characterize the identity of the cells.

1. Where are these two niches located? (4 pts)
2. What marker through immunocytochemistry could identify the NSCs?
3. Next, you chemically treated the cells to kill them. What purpose does this experiment serve? (4 pts)
4. To test the multipotency of the NSCs, you will differentiate them into what cells? (9 pts)
5. What gene is necessary to initiate neurogenesis?
6. Knowing that there are many different cell types to make up the nervous system, what other ideas need to be considered for neurogenesis? (2 pts)

Answer 1

A) sensate gyrus and striatum of basal ganglia contains these stem cells

B) nestin and Sox 2 can be used as immunohistochemistry marker of neural stem cells as this two are present in neural stem cell but absent in central nervous system tissue.

C)if you chemically kill the cells they will not produce new cells so in animal brain , you can be able to see neural damage which can't be regenerated.

D) to test multipotency , you should differentiate the cells into various types of neural cells like glial cell , neural cells astrocytes etc

E) want , bend ,fgf2 is needed for neurogenesis