Stem cells can be obtained from self-renewing regions of an adult vertebrate brain, cultured in suspension or in monolayer, and later grafted back into a live animal. When implanted, stem cells isolated from mouse hippocampus …
A) can only give rise to hippocampus neurons, even in a different location in the brain.
B) can give rise to neurons in another part of the brain, e.g. in the olfactory bulb.
C) are unable to proliferate unless implanted in the hippocampus, where they contribute to its neurons.
D) can give rise to any cell (e.g. muscle cells) when implanted into muscle tissue.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

After being grown under the right culture conditions, neural stem cells derived from the mouse hippocampus can give rise to neurons that become correctly incorporated into the olfactory bulb when implanted in the mouse olfactory-bulb-precursor pathway. The capacity of these stem cells to adapt to new environments suggests applications in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

Stem Cells Can Be Obtained from Self-Renewing Regions of an Adult