Non-invasive imaging of endogenous neural stem cell mobilization in vivo using Positron Emission Tomography

Neural stem cells reside in two major niches in the adult brain, i.e. the subventricular zone (SVZ) and the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. Insults to the brain such as cerebral ischemia result in a physiological mobilization of endogenous neural stem cells. Since recent studies showed that pharmacological stimulation can be used to expand the endogenous neural stem cell niche, hope has been raised to enhance the brain’s own regenerative capacity. For the evaluation of such novel therapeutic approaches, longitudinal and intraindividual monitoring of the endogenous neural stem cell niche is required. We establi…