Fred H. Gage<\/a> and their colleagues discovered that the receptor, called TLX, is needed to maintain proliferating stem cells in the brains of adult mice. Defects in the activity of TLX in mice result in violent and aggressive behavior that is often seen in neurodegenerative diseases and brain injury. Most important, re-introducing normal TLX into cells derived from mice with defective TLX restored their ability to behave as adult neural stem cells.<\/p>\n“TLX is present in the developing brain, but isn’t essential for early development,” said Gage. “It is surprisingly crucial for the function of adult nerve cells. Since this function declines with age, especially in areas of the brain important for learning and memory, TLX may be a target for protecting against age-related changes associated with cognitive decline.”<\/p>\n
The researchers found that stem cells that have the TLX receptor could proliferate and differentiate into any of the variety of cells found in the adult brain. But without the receptor, none of the cells could grow, resulting in dramatic behavioral changes in the mice. These changes were reversed and cells were again able to proliferate when the scientists reintroduced TLX.<\/p>\n
Gage is known for his earlier finding that the brain can regenerate nerve cells in adulthood, which lead to the discovery of adult stem cells in the brain. Since that discovery, researchers have been trying to find out exactly how the stem cells develop into working parts of the nervous system.<\/p>\n
“If we can learn how to control the switch we might be able to stimulate the formation of new brain cells and restore or preserve learning and memory. With this switch in hand we will begin looking for drugs that might regulate its activity to stimulate brain function,” said Evans. <\/p>\n
El Instituto Salk de Estudios Biol\u00f3gicos, ubicado en La Jolla, California, es una organizaci\u00f3n independiente sin fines de lucro dedicada a los descubrimientos fundamentales en las ciencias de la vida, la mejora de la salud y las condiciones de vida de las personas, y la formaci\u00f3n de las futuras generaciones de investigadores. El Dr. Jonas Salk fund\u00f3 el instituto en 1960 gracias a una donaci\u00f3n de terrenos por parte de la ciudad de San Diego y al apoyo financiero de la Fundaci\u00f3n March of Dimes para los Defectos Cong\u00e9nitos.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","faculty":[91,76],"disease-research":[],"class_list":["post-2243","disclosure","type-disclosure","status-publish","hentry","faculty-ronald-evans","faculty-rusty-gage"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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