The discovery shows a potential for brain aging and therapies by the disease

Scientists from Northeastern University have discovered that a protein in the human brain could potentially be used to develop new laboratory neurons and improve brain processes affected by aging or neurodegenerative diseases.

In their study, published in Medicine mechanibiologyResearchers discovered that the protein responsible for binding neural stem cells in the human brain, neuro-cadherinis also plays a key role in stimulating their differentiation.

Neural stem cells are cells at an early and non -specialized stage that have the capacity to differentiate or develop in different types of neural neural cells from the central nervous system.

In the adult human brain, these cells are mainly found in two regions: the subventricular zone – a thin layer of cells lining the spaces filled with fluid called lateral ventricles deeply in the brain – and the sub -Granular zone. The sub-Granular area is a small area in the hippocampus, part of the brain essential to learning and memory.

“With aging, neural stem cells do not respond as they did when they were young,” said Rebecca Kuntz Willit, professor of chemicals and bio-engineers in the northeast. “There are fewer, and they don’t necessarily differentiate themselves so easily.”

Willits and McKay Cavanaugh, a doctoral student, studied neuro-cadherin, a protein found on cell surfaces that helps neural stem cells to stay together and communicate, to understand how it affects these cells.

“We were looking for means that the environment influences these stem cells, and if the cells interact through these molecules (n-cadherinis), how we can measure it mechanically.”

More specifically, they wanted to see if the neural stem cells interacting with n-cadherinis would cause mechanicuction activity-that is to say when mechanical stimuli cause biochemical responses which regulate various cellular functions and behaviors, including differentiation.

Willits explains that this discovery could have future applications in controlling the differentiation of neural stem cells in laboratories to accelerate the growth of neurons, or in the development of injectable materials that could have a direct impact on brain aging processes or the fight against neurodegenerative diseases.

Scientists have created glass surfaces covered with different quantities of laboratory versions of N-Cadherine natural proteins. They then cultivated induced pluripotent neural stem cells – or the neural stem cells made in the laboratory – on these glass substrates.

Scientists looked at cell membership; changes in the form, size and structure of cells; cell proliferation or multiplication; and activity of cellular mechanicuction.

Experience revealed that neural stem cells adhere and only survive the surfaces of N-Cadherin. Cells have not linked to another type of cadhelin protein – epithelial, or e -cadhelin – also generally in the subventricular zone.

Scientists have noticed that neural stem cells had more interactions with substrates containing higher concentrations of n-cadherin molecules. Cellular morphology has changed significantly with an increase in n -cadherinis – cells and their nuclei have widened.

“You could see that the structure in the cell, the scaffolding in the cell, was modified and that it essentially made the cells different,” explains Willit. “The scaffolding was stronger and the interaction points were stronger.”

Neural stem cells have developed unique “cycles” structures in protein filaments – a cytoskeletal characteristic that is not previously seen in unique neural stem cells.

Without any other chemical signal, the cells began to differentiate in neurons in 96 hours.

“Usually, if we wanted to make neurons, we would add all these chemicals to the cells and the pusons to make neurons,” explains Willits. “We haven’t done anything (this time).”

Experience did not work long enough to determine which specific type of neurons These neural stem cells would become.

This story is republished with the kind authorization of Northeastern Global News.northeastern.edu.