Impact of Neurodegenerative Diseases on Human Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis

Overview

Journal Science

Specialty Science

Date 2021 Oct 21

PMID 34672693

Citations 110

Authors

J Terreros-Roncal

E P Moreno-Jimenez

M Flor-Garcia

C B Rodriguez-Moreno

M F Trinchero

F Cafini

A Rabano

M Llorens-Martin

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Disrupted hippocampal performance underlies psychiatric comorbidities and cognitive impairments in patients with neurodegenerative disorders. To understand the contribution of adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, and frontotemporal dementia, we studied postmortem human samples. We found that adult-born dentate granule cells showed abnormal morphological development and changes in the expression of differentiation markers. The ratio of quiescent to proliferating hippocampal neural stem cells shifted, and the homeostasis of the neurogenic niche was altered. Aging and neurodegenerative diseases reduced the phagocytic capacity of microglia, triggered astrogliosis, and altered the microvasculature of the dentate gyrus. Thus, enhanced vulnerability of AHN to neurodegeneration might underlie hippocampal dysfunction during physiological and pathological aging in humans.

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