This is because the brain clears out damaged cells (autophagy) and keeps neural stem cells ready to replace them.
These researchers from the University of Michigan have discovered that a particular protein, FIP200, controls this cleaning process in neural stem cells in mice.
Without FIP200, without this update, vital stem cells may be damaged by their own waste products and may no longer develop into nerve cells.
Scientists sought to understand how this self-cleaning, autophagy, on neural stem cells worked.
The results appear to provide insight into why the aging brain and nervous system are more susceptible to disease and irreversible damage. Indeed, the self-cleaning process being slowed down, it no longer allows the replacement of damaged or diseased cells. Researchers could use this study to prevent and treat neurological disorders.
Without the FIP200 gene, neural stem cells disappear:
Professor Jun-Lin Guan, professor of molecular medicine and genetics at UM and lead author of the study explains that “through autophagy, neural stem cells can regulate levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) or free radicals that can accumulate in certain regions of the brain and whose abnormally high levels can trigger their differentiation.not”. The researchers show that by deleting the FIP200 gene, neural stem cells die and ROS levels rise. They will then study the effects of a dysfunction of neural stem cell autophagy to better understand the process in neurological diseases.
