Neurosphere: The birth of new neurons occurs in the embryo and continues throughout adulthood in discreet regions of the mammalian brain. New neurons and the other brain cells that support them (astrocytes and oligodendrocytes) can be generated in the laboratory from precursor cells that group together in ball-like clusters called ‘neurospheres’.

Neurospheres are of great interest therapeutically as they could theoretically be used to generate and replace the neurons and other cell types that are lost in traumatic brain injury and in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis. Scientific evidence has shown that neurospheres have the capacity to improve deficits associated with these diseases. Furthermore, neurospheres can be used to study the influence of various factors such as inflammation, stress, hormones, endogenous disease proteins and toxins that contribute to the pathology of these diseases, on the proliferation, growth, birth and long term survival of neurons derived from these neurospheres.

The cells and image were prepared by Louise Collins and Suzanne Crotty, Biosciences Institute, UCC.

Picture:  Microscopy Image of a Neurosphere

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