Neuroplasticity and Neurogenesis

You have full text access to this OnlineOpen article

Plasticity and Neural Stem Cells in the Enteric Nervous System

  1. Karl-Herbert Schäfer1,†,*,
  2. Chris Van Ginneken2,
  3. Sjef Copray3

Article first published online: 26 NOV 2009

DOI: 10.1002/ar.21033

Issue

The Anatomical Record: Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology

The Anatomical Record: Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology

Special Issue: Neurodegeneration and Neuroplasticity

Volume 292, Issue 12, pages 1940–1952, December 2009

Additional Information

How to Cite

Schäfer, K.-H., Ginneken, C. V. and Copray, S. (2009), Plasticity and Neural Stem Cells in the Enteric Nervous System. Anat Rec, 292: 1940–1952. doi: 10.1002/ar.21033

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Biotechnology, University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Germany

  2. 2

    Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Antwerp, Belgium

  3. 3

    Department of Neuroscience, University Medical Centre Groningen, The Netherlands

  1. †

    Fax: 06332-914-305

*Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Applied Computer Sciences and Microsystems Technology, University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Germany, Amerikastraβe 1, 66482 Zweibrücken

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 26 NOV 2009
  2. Article first published online: 26 NOV 2009
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 28 JUL 2009
  4. Manuscript Received: 18 FEB 2009

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (486K)

Keywords:

  • enteric nervous system;
  • neural crest derived stem cells;
  • nestin

Abstract

The enteric nervous system (ENS) is a highly organized part of the autonomic nervous system, which innervates the whole gastrointestinal tract by several interconnected neuronal networks. The ENS changes during development and keeps throughout its lifespan a significant capacity to adapt to microenvironmental influences, be it in inflammatory bowel diseases or changing dietary habits. The presence of neural stem cells in the pre-, postnatal, and adult gut might be one of the prerequisites to adapt to changing conditions. During the last decade, the ENS has increasingly come into the focus of clinical neural stem cell research, forming a considerable pool of neural crest derived stem cells, which could be used for cell therapy of dysganglionosis, that is, diseases based on the deficient or insufficient colonization of the gut by neural crest derived stem cells; in addition, the ENS could be an easily accessible neural stem cell source for cell replacement therapies for neurodegenerative disorders or traumatic lesions of the central nervous system. Anat Rec, 292:1940–1952, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (486K)