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Spinal Cord Stem Cells In Their Microenvironment: The Ependyma as a Stem Cell Niche

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Stem Cell Microenvironments and Beyond

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1041))

Abstract

The ependyma of the spinal cord is currently proposed as a latent neural stem cell niche. This chapter discusses recent knowledge on the developmental origin and nature of the heterogeneous population of cells that compose this stem cell microenviroment, their diverse physiological properties and regulation. The chapter also reviews relevant data on the ependymal cells as a source of plasticity for spinal cord repair.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partly supported by grant FCE 103356 from ANII and grant #167 from Wings for Life Spinal Cord Research Foundation to RER. The authors would like to thank the kind donation of GATA3-GFP transgenic mice by Dr. Stavros Malas, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, Cyprus.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neurofisiología Celular y Molecular, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Nicolás Marichal, Cecilia Reali, Omar Trujillo-Cenóz & Raúl E. Russo

  2. Institute of Physiological Chemistry, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany

    Nicolás Marichal

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  1. Nicolás Marichal
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  2. Cecilia Reali
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  3. Omar Trujillo-Cenóz
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  4. Raúl E. Russo
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Correspondence to Raúl E. Russo .

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  1. Department of Pathology, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Alexander Birbrair

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Marichal, N., Reali, C., Trujillo-Cenóz, O., Russo, R.E. (2017). Spinal Cord Stem Cells In Their Microenvironment: The Ependyma as a Stem Cell Niche. In: Birbrair, A. (eds) Stem Cell Microenvironments and Beyond. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1041. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69194-7_5

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