Study: PirB inhibits the self-renewal and differentiation capacities of neural stem cells

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Aug 20 2021

Aging-US published "PirB functions as an intrinsic suppressor in hippocampal neural stem cells" which reported that neural stem cells play pivotal roles during prenatal development and throughout life.

PirB expression increased with age during development, and its deficiency promoted neural stem cell proliferation and differentiation in vivo and in vitro.

Furthermore, the authors detected an increase in Type 1 neural stem cells in PirB-deficient mice compared to their wild-type littermates.

PirB deficiency promoted stemness marker gene expression of Sox2 and KLF4 by activating Akt1 phosphorylation.

These Aging-US findings suggest that PirB inhibits the self-renewal and differentiation capacities of neural stem cells.

Dr. Cuiping Yang and Dr. Yongbin Chen both from The Kunming Institute of Zoology said, "Neural stem cells (NSCs) generate all major neural cell types in the central nervous system (CNS), including neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes."

NSCs are radial glia-like cells with an elaborate tree of processes in the granule cell layer and GFAP expression.

Adult neurogenesis is regulated by physiological and pathological activities at all levels, which includes adult NSCs proliferation, maturation, survival, differentiation, and integration of newborn neurons.

CNS resident cells, including peripheral immune cells, participate in functional regulation during hippocampal adult neurogenesis, and the inflammatory environment enhances NSC proliferation in the SGZ.

Paired immunoglobulin-like receptors, also known as leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptors or Ig-like transcripts in humans, are expressed on B cells and myeloid lineage cells, and include the inhibitory PirB and activating isoform PirA, which bind to class I MHC molecules.

Thus, although PirB is involved in neural development, whether intrinsic PirB can regulate the stemness maintenance of NSCs is unknown.

The Yang/Chen Research Team concluded in their Aging-US Research Paper, "our results suggest that selectively blocking PirB might be a promising therapeutic strategy for elderly or other neurodegenerative patients in the future"