{"id":32168,"date":"2016-11-23T23:03:02","date_gmt":"2016-11-24T07:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2016\/11\/researchers-uncover-neural-progenitors-in-protective-membranes-covering-the-brain"},"modified":"2017-04-24T19:17:08","modified_gmt":"2017-04-25T02:17:08","slug":"researchers-uncover-neural-progenitors-in-protective-membranes-covering-the-brain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2016\/11\/researchers-uncover-neural-progenitors-in-protective-membranes-covering-the-brain","title":{"rendered":"Researchers uncover neural progenitors in protective membranes covering the brain"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In a cross-domain study directed by professor Peter Carmeliet (VIB \u2014 KU Leuven), researchers discovered unexpected cells in the protective membranes that enclose the brain, the so called meninges. These \u2018neural progenitors\u2019 \u2014 or stem cells that differentiate into different kinds of neurons \u2014 are produced during embryonic development. These findings show that the neural progenitors found in the meninges produce new neurons after birth \u2014 highlighting the importance of meningeal tissue as well as these cells\u2019 potential in the development of new therapies for brain damage or neurodegeneration. A paper highlighting the results was published in the leading scientific journal Cell Stem Cell.<\/p>\n

Scientists\u2019 understanding of brain plasticity, or the ability of the brain to grow, develop, recover from injuries and adapt to changing conditions throughout our lives, has been greatly broadened in recent years. Before the discoveries of the last few decades, neurologists once thought that the brain became \u2018static\u2019 after childhood. This dogma has changed, with researchers finding more and more evidence that the brain is capable of healing and regenerating in adulthood, thanks to the presence of stem cells. However, neuronal stem cells were generally believed to only reside within the brain tissue, not in the membranes surrounding it.<\/p>\n

The meninges: unappreciated no more: Believed in the past to serve a mainly protective function to dampen mechanical shocks, the meninges have been historically underappreciated by science as having neurological importance in its own right. The data gathered by the team challenges the current idea that neural precursors \u2014 or stem cells that give rise to neurons \u2014 can only be found inside actual brain tissue.<\/p>\n

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In a cross-domain study directed by professor Peter Carmeliet (VIB \u2014 KU Leuven), researchers discovered unexpected cells in the protective membranes that enclose the brain, the so called meninges. These \u2018neural progenitors\u2019 \u2014 or stem cells that differentiate into different kinds of neurons \u2014 are produced during embryonic development. These findings show that the neural [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":395,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-neuroscience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32168"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49552,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32168\/revisions\/49552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}