Effects of inflammatory cytokines and minocycline on cultured neural stem cells

Introduction: Manipulating endogenous neural stem cells (NSCs) in the adult brain has emerged as an experimental concept, aimed at enhancing the brain’s regenerative capacity after insults such as stroke. Neuroinflammatory processes occuring after stroke are mediated by pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-alpha, interleukin–1ß (IL–1ß) and IL–6; however, their effects on NSCs are unknown to date. The tetracycline minocycline has neuroprotective effects in stroke, but – likewise – its effects on NSCs are unclear to date. Method: NSCs were dissected from fetal rat cortex (E13.5) and grown as monolayer cultures.…