Regenerative Neurosurgery and Neuro-Oncology: Terry C. Burns

Niche tropism
Co-culturing neural stem cells with explants of neurogenic regions facilitates research on neural stem cell interactions with neurogenic regions. Here, neural stem cells (green) are attracted to a cluster of blood vessels in the neurogenic subventricular zone.
Differentiating embryonic stem cell colony
When encouraged to differentiate toward a neuronal lineage, embryonic stem cells recapitulate the early stages of embryonic development. Here, proliferation of neural progenitors gave rise to a large number of neurons (red), prior to appearance of astrocytes (green).
Overcoming pitfalls
Until recently, thymidine analogs were used to label stem cells for experimental implantation into the rodent brain. Results suggested extraordinary abilities of adult stem cells. However, a high percentage of cells typically die shortly after transplantation. Dr. Burns and colleagues found that thymidine analog (red) from dead cells can be recycled and incorporated into the DNA of live proliferating cells in the recipient brain, making them appear as transplanted cells. As such, this technique is now known to be unreliable.
Transplanting plasticity
Hippocampal neurogenesis is involved in learning and memory, but declines with age, brain radiation and neurodegeneration, suggesting a possible role for stem cell therapies in these diseases. Here, transplanted embryonic stem cell-derived cells (green) incorporate alongside other newly born doublecortin-expressing (red) neurons in the hippocampal dentate gyrus.
A vascular niche for neurogenesis
The subventricular zone (SVZ) is one of the major sources of adult-born neurons. Blood vessels in the SVZ help regulate the behavior of neural stem cells, providing an important vascular niche for neurogenesis. This image of a microdissected mouse SVZ stained with nestin (red), glial fibrillary acidic protein (blue) and laminin — a vascular basement membrane protein (green) — demonstrates the intricate vascular network in the SVZ.