Directed migration of neural stem cells to sites of CNS injury by the stromal cell-derived factor 1α/CXC chemokine receptor 4 pathway

Migration toward pathology is the first critical step in stem cell engagement during regeneration. Neural stem cells (NSCs) migrate through the parenchyma along nonstereotypical routes in a precise directed manner across great distances to injury sites in the CNS, where they might engage niches harboring local transiently expressed reparative signals. The molecular mechanisms for NSC mobilization have not been identified. Because NSCs seem to home similarly to pathologic sites derived from disparate etiologies, we hypothesized that the inflammatory response itself, a characteristic common to all, guides the behavior of potentially reparative cells. As proof of concept, we show that human NSCs migrate in vivo…

• MO
  March of Dimes Foundation
• NI
  National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases