A profusion of neural stem cells in the brain of the spiny mouse, Acomys cahirinus

• Published in: Journal of anatomy 2021-05, Vol.238 (5), p.1191-1202
• Main Authors: Maden, Malcolm, Serrano, Nicole, Bermudez, Monica, Sandoval, Aaron G. W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acomys; Acomys cahirinus; Animals; Brain; Brain - cytology; Brain stem; BrdU; Cell Movement - physiology; Cell Proliferation - physiology; Dentate gyrus; doublecortin; Doublecortin Protein; Female; Ki67; Male; Murinae; Neural stem cells; Neural Stem Cells - cytology; Neuroblasts; Noggin protein; Notch1 protein; Original Paper; Original Papers; proliferation; spiny mouse; Stem cell transplantation; Stem cells
• ISSN: 0021-8782; 1469-7580
• DOI: 10.1111/joa.13373

The vast majority of neural stem cell studies have been conducted on the brains of mice and rats, the classical model rodent. Non‐model organisms may, however, give us some important insights into how to increase neural stem cell numbers for regenerative purposes and with this in mind we have characterized these cells in the brain of the spiny mouse, Acomys cahirinus. This unique mammal is highly regenerative and damaged tissue does not scar or fibrose. We find that there are more than three times as many stem cells in the SVZ and more than 3 times as many proliferating cells compared to the CD‐1 outbred strain of lab mouse. These additional cells create thick stem cell regions in the wall of the SVZ and very obvious columns of cells moving into the rostral migratory stream. In the dentate gyrus, there are more than 10 times as many cells proliferating in the sub‐granular layer and twice the number of doublecortin expressing neuroblasts. A preliminary analysis of some stem cell niche genes has identified Sox2, Notch1, Shh, and Noggin as up‐regulated in the SVZ of Acomys and Bmp2 as being down‐regulated. The highly increased neural stem cell numbers in Acomys may endow this animal with increased regenerative properties in the brain or improved physiological performance important for its survival. The neural stem cell regions of the spiny mouse, Acomys contain three times as many cells and 3–10 times as many proliferating cells than the equivalent regions in the lab mouse, Mus. Several signaling genes are also up‐regulated which may go some way to explaining this altered cellular behavior.