Heterotopically transplanted CVO neural stem cells generate neurons and migrate with SVZ cells in the adult mouse brain.

Production of new neurons throughout adulthood has been well characterized in two brain regions, the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the anterolateral ventricle and the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the hippocampus. The neurons produced from these regions arise from neural stem cells (NSCs) found in highly regulated stem cell niches. We recently showed that midline structures called circumventricular organs (CVOs) also contain NSCs capable of neurogenesis and/or astrogliogenesis in vitro and in situ (Bennett et al.). The present study demonstrates that NSCs derived from two astrogliogenic CVOs, the median eminence and organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis of the nestin-GFP mouse, possess the potential to integrate into the SVZ and differentiate into cells with a neuronal phenotype. These NSCs, following expansion and BrdU-labeling in culture and heterotopic transplantation into a region proximal to the SVZ in adult mice, migrate caudally to the SVZ and express early neuronal markers (TUC-4, PSA-NCAM) as they migrate along the rostral migratory stream. CVO-derived BrdU(+) cells ultimately reach the olfactory bulb where they express early (PSA-NCAM) and mature (NeuN) neuronal markers. Collectively, these data suggest that although NSCs derived from the ME and OVLT CVOs are astrogliogenic in situ, they produce cells phenotypic of neurons in vivo when placed in a neurogenic environment. These findings may have implications for neural repair in the adult brain.