Insulin-like signal needed to keep stem cells alive in adult brain
Friday, March 26, 2010 - 10:21
in Biology & Nature
Most parts of the fruit fly brain, as well as the human brain, are devoid of neural stem cells, which means that once a nerve cell dies, it can't be replaced. A new study in fruit flies shows one way to keep stem cells from dying as the brain matures. Whereas stem cells blocked from apoptosis persist, they suffer insulin withdrawal; revving up the insulin system gives healthy stem cells and generates normal-looking neurons.