Age-dependent Cognitive Impairment and Inducible Expansion of Neural Stem Cells

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Aging correlates with a substantial decrease in the proliferative potential of neural stem cells (NSC) and it has been proposed that the resulting decline in neurogenesis may be a primary cause for the deficits in hippocampal function, such as learning and memory, that characterize senescent individuals. Our group has found that expansion of NSC can be induced in the adult mouse hippocampus by an acute overexpression of specific cell cycle regulators. Thus, our team will investigate the possibility to promote the expansion of NSC in senescent mice in order to compensate for the deficits in hippocampal function that are associated with aging. If successful, our project will provide the first proof-of-principle that regenerative therapies of the mammalian brain may be achieved by an acute manipulation of endogenous somatic stem cells. The finding that such manipulation may compensate for the negative effects induced by aging may have an enormous impact for our society.