RANKL treatment restores thymic function and improves T cell-mediated immune responses in aged mice.

Age-related thymic involution, leading to reduced T cell production, is one of the major causes of immunosenescence. This results in an increased susceptibility to cancers, infections, and autoimmunity and in reduced vaccine efficacy. Here, we identified that the receptor activator of nuclear factor κB (RANK)-RANK ligand (RANKL) axis in the thymus is altered during aging.

Syndecan-1 Stimulates Adult Neurogenesis in the Mouse Ventricular-Subventricular Zone after Injury.

The production of neurons from neural stem cells (NSCs) persists throughout life in the mouse ventricular-subventricular zone (V-SVZ). We have previously reported that NSCs from adult V-SVZ are contained in cell populations expressing the carbohydrate SSEA-1/LeX, which exhibit either characteristics of quiescent NSCs (qNSCs) or of actively dividing NSCs (aNSCs) based on the absence or the presence of EGF-receptor, respectively. Using the fluorescence ubiquitination cell cycle indicator-Cdt1 transgenic mice to mark cells in G/G phase of the cell cycle, we uncovered a subpopulation of qNSCs which were primed to enter the cell cycle .