Signaling neurogenesis

Credit: MethoxyRoxy / WIKIMEDIA" /> Credit: MethoxyRoxy / WIKIMEDIA The paper: D.C. Lie et al., "Wnt signaling regulates adult hippocampal neurogenesis," Nature, 437:1370-5, 2005. (Cited in 79 papers) The finding: After discovering neurogenesis in humans in 1998, Fred Gage's group at the Salk Institute in California went looking for signals that control the phenomenon in rodents. They found that overexpressing the signaling molecule Wnt increased neurogenesis, w

Written byKerry Grens

| 2 min read

Save for Later

Listen with Speechify

0:00

2:00

The paper: D.C. Lie et al., "Wnt signaling regulates adult hippocampal neurogenesis," Nature, 437:1370-5, 2005. (Cited in 79 papers)

The finding: After discovering neurogenesis in humans in 1998, Fred Gage's group at the Salk Institute in California went looking for signals that control the phenomenon in rodents. They found that overexpressing the signaling molecule Wnt increased neurogenesis, while inhibiting Wnt abolished the growth of new neurons.

The other players: Wnt was the first major regulator identified in neurogenesis, says first author Dieter Chichung Lie, now at GSF-Research Center for Environment and Health in Germany. Since then, the role of other factors has emerged, including GABA's importance for the maturation of neurons (Nature, 439:589-93, 2006) and the NMDA receptor's regulation of the survival of new neurons (Nature, 442:929-33, 2006).

The holes: "I don't believe the Wnt signaling pathway is the only answer to the mystery of neurogenesis," says Lie. In March ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!

Join for free today

Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

Kerry Grens
Kerry served as The Scientist’s news director until 2021. Before joining The Scientist in 2013, she was a stringer for Reuters Health, the senior health and science reporter at WHYY in Philadelphia, and the health and science reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio. Kerry got her start in journalism as a AAAS Mass Media fellow at KUNC in Colorado. She has a master’s in biological sciences from Stanford University and a biology degree from Loyola University Chicago.
View Full Profile