Hyperoxia shows duration-dependent effects on the lengths of cell cycle phases in fetal cortical neural stem cells.

Fetal neural stem cells (NSCs) physiologically reside under low-oxygen conditions (1%-5% of tissue pO), but are often transferred and maintained under atmospheric oxygen levels of 21% pO (hyperoxia) for investigations. These altered oxygen conditions lead to adaptive changes in NSCs which complicate the interpretation of data. However, the underlying adaption dynamics remain largely enigmatic.

Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation induces nigrostriatal dopaminergic plasticity in a stable rat model of Parkinson's disease.

Objective: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) has been a highly effective treatment option for middle to late stage Parkinson's disease for decades. Though, the underlying mechanisms of action, particularly effects on the cellular level, remain in part unclear. In the context of identifying disease-modifying effects of STN-DBS by prompting cellular plasticity in midbrain dopaminergic systems, we analyzed neuronal tyrosine hydroxylase and c-Fos expression in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) and ventral tegmental area (VTA).

Serial Gene Expression Profiling of Neural Stem Cells Shows Transcriptome Switch by Long-Term Physioxia from Metabolic Adaption to Cell Signaling Profile.

Oxygen is an essential factor in the cellular microenvironment with pivotal effects on neural development with a particular sensitivity of midbrain neural stem cells (NSCs) to high atmospheric oxygen tension. However, most experiments are still performed at atmospheric O levels (21%, normoxia), whereas mammalian brain tissue is physiologically exposed to substantially lower O tensions around 3% (physioxia). We here performed serial Affymetrix gene array analyses to detect expression changes in mouse fetal NSCs from both midbrain and cortical tissues when kept at physioxia compared to normoxia.