The cancer chemotherapeutic agent paclitaxel (Taxol) reduces hippocampal neurogenesis via down-regulation of vesicular zinc.

Chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (CICI) is increasingly recognized as a major unwanted side effect of an otherwise highly valuable life-saving technology. In part, this awareness is a result of increased cancer survival rates following chemotherapy. Altered hippocampal neurogenesis may play a role in mediating CICI.