Characterization of the Filum terminale as a neural progenitor cell niche in both rats and humans

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Neural stem cells (NSCs) reside in a unique microenvironment within the central nervous system (CNS) called the NSC niche. Although they are relatively rare, niches have been previously characterized in both the brain and spinal cord of adult animals. Recently, another potential NSC niche has been identified in the filum terminale (FT), which is a thin band of tissue at the caudal end of the spinal cord. While previous studies have demonstrated that NSCs can be isolated from the FT, the in vivo architecture of this tissue and its relation to other NSC niches in the CNS has not yet been established. In this article we report a histological analysis of the FT NSC niche in postnatal rats and humans. Immunohistochemical characterization reveals that the FT is mitotically active and its cells express similar markers to those in other CNS niches. In addition, the organization of the FT most closely resembles that of the adult spinal cord niche. J. Comp. Neurol. 525:661-675, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Medical Subject Headings

Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging (metabolism, pathology); Animals; Astrocytes (cytology, metabolism); Cauda Equina (cytology, growth & development, metabolism); Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (metabolism); Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Microscopy, Confocal; Middle Aged; Models, Neurological; Nestin (metabolism); Neural Stem Cells (cytology, metabolism); Neurons (cytology, metabolism); Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Species Specificity; Stem Cell Niche (physiology)

Publication Date

2-15-2017

Publication Title

The Journal of comparative neurology

E-ISSN

1096-9861

Volume

525

Issue

3

First Page

661

Last Page

675

PubMed ID

27511739

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1002/cne.24094

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