Role of autophagy in differentiation of adult hippocampal neural stem cells.

Abstract

Neural stem cells (NSCs) in the brain have the ability to differentiate into neurons, oligodendrocytes and strocytes. Autophagy is a major degradation pathway for cellular homeostasis and remodeling. However, little is known how autophagy is associated with differentiation of NSCs. This study was aimed to examine whether autophagy plays a critical role for self-renewal and differentiation of adult hippocampal neural stem (HCN) cells. Suppression of autophagy by knockdown of Atg7, a key autophagy gene, impaired differentiation of HCN cells into neuron, oligodendrocyte and astrocyte. After induction of differentiation of HCN cells to astrocytes by retinoic acid, considerable amount of autophagosomes was observed in the early time point, but later autophagy level returned to the basal state. Recent studies suggested that astrocytes are dynamic regulators of neuronal activity such as in neuronal development, activity and differentiation. Our findings suggest that autophagy plays a key role in regulation of NSC differentiation, and especially astrogenesis depends on autophagy. Our study will help to elucidate the importance of autophagy in regulation of HCN cell differentiation. ⓒ 2017 DGIST