Circadian glucocorticoid oscillations preserve a population of adult hippocampal neural stem cells in the aging brain.

ABSTRACT: A decrease in adult hippocampal neurogenesis has been linked to age-related cognitive impairment. However, the mechanisms involved in this age-related reduction remain elusive. Glucocorticoid hormones (GC) are important regulators of neural stem/precursor cells (NSPC) proliferation. GC are released from the adrenal glands in ultradian secretory pulses that generate characteristic circadian oscillations. Here, we investigated the hypothesis that GC oscillations prevent NSPC activation and preserve a quiescent NSPC pool in the aging hippocampus. We found that hippocampal NSPC populations lacking expression of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) decayed exponentially with age, while GR-positive populations decayed linearly and predominated in the hippocampus from middle age onwards. Importantly,

SUBMITTER: Schouten M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7303016 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature