Physical exercise rescues defective neural stem cells and neurogenesis in the adult subventricular zone of Btg1 knockout mice

What is it about?

We provide the demonstration that physical exercise (running) activates adult stem cells of the subventricular zone (SVZ) if a gene that maintains their quiescence, Btg1, is deleted. In normal conditions running does not activate stem cells of SVZ, therefore this observation demonstrates that SVZ stem cells are endowed with a hidden ability to self-renew, and favors the hypothesis of a large flexibility in neural stem cells self-renewal.

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Why is it important?

The importance is in the demonstration that self-renewal of stem cells is flexible and long lasting also in aging. In fact aged stem cells in the SVZ, divide less frequently but in Btg1 knockout mice they are reactivated by exercise, indicating that self-renewal can be still efficiently started during aging.

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