Neural Stem Cells and Glial Progenitor Cells

MEDICAL BIOLOGY: NEURAL STEM CELLS AND THE ORIGIN OF GLIOMAS: "It is now known that there are both neural stem cells and glial progenitor cells in multiple regions of the adult brain. Neural stem cells, which are multipotent and self-renewing, have been isolated from the subventricular zone, the lining of the lateral ventricles, the dentate gyrus, within the hippocampus, and the subcortical white matter. The largest of these germinal regions in humans, the subventricular zone, contains a population of astrocytes that can function as neural stem cells. In other adult mammals, glial progenitor cells -- self-renewing precursors capable of producing astrocytes and oligodendrocytes -- have also been observed throughout the neuraxis, including the cortex, the corpus callosum, the periventricular white matter, the subventricular zone, and the dentate gyrus. These stem-cell and progenitor elements, in addition to differentiated adult glia, constitute a substrate for neoplastic transformation."