Journal of Biological Chemistry
Volume 276, Issue 32, 10 August 2001, Pages 30467-30474
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MOLECULAR BASIS OF CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
Roles of the Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Genes Hes1 and Hes5 in Expansion of Neural Stem Cells of the Developing Brain*

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Neural stem cells, which differentiate into neurons and glia, are present in the ventricular zone of the embryonal brain. The precise mechanism by which neural stem cells are maintained during embryogenesis remains to be determined. Here, we found that transient misexpression of the basic helix-loop-helix genes Hes1 and Hes5 keeps embryonal telencephalic cells undifferentiated although they have been shown to induce gliogenesis in the retina. These telencephalic cells later differentiate into neurons and astroglia when Hes expression is down-regulated, suggesting that Hes1- andHes5-expressing cells are maintained as neural stem cells during embryogenesis. Conversely, in the absence of Hes1and Hes5, neural stem cells are not properly maintained, generating fewer and smaller neurospheres than the wild type. These results indicate that Hes1 and Hes5 play an important role in the maintenance of neural stem cells but not in gliogenesis in the embryonal telencephalon.

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Published, JBC Papers in Press, June 8, 2001, DOI 10.1074/jbc.M102420200

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This work was supported by Special Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology and research grants from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture of Japan and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. The article must therefore be hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

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Present address: Dept. of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, 385 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305-5020.