Isolation of neural precursor cells from Alzheimer's disease and aged control postmortem brain

Lovell, Mark A.; Geiger, Hartmut; Van Zant, Gary E.; Lynn, Bert C.; Markesbery, William R.

doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2005.05.004

« Previous Next »Neurobiology of Aging
Volume 27, Issue 7 , Pages 909-917, July 2006

Isolation of neural precursor cells from Alzheimer's disease and aged control postmortem brain

Mark A. Lovell
- From the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, 800 S. Limestone St., 101 Sanders-Brown Bldg., University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536-0230, USA
- Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 859 257 1412x251; fax: +1 859 323 2866.
Hartmut Geiger
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA
Gary E. Van Zant
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA
Bert C. Lynn
- From the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, 800 S. Limestone St., 101 Sanders-Brown Bldg., University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536-0230, USA
- Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA
William R. Markesbery
- From the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, 800 S. Limestone St., 101 Sanders-Brown Bldg., University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536-0230, USA
- Departments of Neurology and Pathology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536-0230, USA

Received 11 January 2005; received in revised form 25 April 2005; accepted 2 May 2005. published online 24 June 2005.

Abstract

Recent studies demonstrate that isolated neural precursor cells are capable of generating neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes from neurogenic regions of adult brain. Because these studies use surgically resected or fresh postmortem specimens from young subjects, it is not clear whether neural precursor cells remain in the brain of normal aged subjects or subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The purpose of this study was to determine if viable precursor cells remain in aged control and AD brain. AD subjects have significantly fewer viable precursor cells in the hippocampus compared with age-matched normal control subjects. Musashi-1 and Ki-67-positive precursor cells from AD self renew, but reach senescence earlier than cells isolated from normal aged control subjects. Precursor cells from AD and aged normal control specimens can differentiate into tubulin- and Tuj-1-positive neurons and GFAP-positive astrocytes. This study demonstrates that viable precursor cells remain in AD and aged normal control brain specimens and can be induced to differentiate. These results raise the possibility of stimulation of inherent precursor cells of aged individuals or AD patients to replace neurons lost in aging and/or neurodegeneration.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, Neural stem/precursor cells, Neurodegeneration