Steele AD, Emsley JG, Ozdinler PH, Lindquist S, Macklis JD.
Prion protein (PrPc) positively regulates neural precursor proliferation during developmental and adult mammalian neurogenesis.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Feb 28;103(9):3416-21.
PubMed.
This study is yet another showing a putative function of the physiological form of the prion protein (PrPC). It shows data from several interesting sets of experiments.
The main findings of the in vitro experiments are
lack of PrPC keeps a high percentage of embryonic neuronal precursors uncommitted;
overexpression of PrPC correlates with neural differentiation.
The main findings of the in vivo experiments are
overexpression of PrPC leads to a higher rate of cell proliferation in the subventricular zone;
PrPC expression does not alter neurogenesis in the central nervous system;
PrPC expression does not influence central nervous system morphology.
These data are stimulating, yet as is so often the case in science, this study generates more questions than it is able to answer. Some of them are the following:
How does PrPC expression influence the proliferative properties of neuronally committed cells in vitro?
What is the fate of the surplus of cells generated in the central nervous system of PrPC-overexpressing mice?
What is the function of the population of cells, located adjacent to the subventricular zone, that express high levels of PrPC?
Comments
Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf
This study is yet another showing a putative function of the physiological form of the prion protein (PrPC). It shows data from several interesting sets of experiments.
The main findings of the in vitro experiments are
The main findings of the in vivo experiments are
These data are stimulating, yet as is so often the case in science, this study generates more questions than it is able to answer. Some of them are the following:
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