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Alvarez-Buylla, Arturo

Alvarez-Buylla, Arturo

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Alvarez-Buylla, Arturo

Dr. Alvarez-Buylla is one of the top experts of neurogenesis, the area of biological sciences that studies the development and population of nervous tissue and neurons. His research focus is developmental stem cell biology, developmental neuroscience, molecular and cellular neurobiology, learning and plasticity, brain tumors, and behavior-related mechanisms. As an inventor, Alvarez-Buylla designed a variety of devices utilized for scientific research.

Neurogenesis

The discovery of adult neurogenesis, a term that refers to the generation of neural tissue and cells, is relatively recent. The observation that neurons continue to grow in some areas of the brain eliminated the idea that human beings are born with a fixed amount of neurons. The revelation was a paradigm shift in the biosciences and changed the course of neurobiology. Today, the discipline of adult neurogenesis is developing rapidly and has a great influence in the fields of brain development and brain-related issues such as aging, memory, learning, neuropsychiatric disorders, and brain injury and disease.

Adult neurogenesis has been observed in the hippocampus, subventricular zone, olfactory bulb, and spinal cord. The hippocampus, located on both sides of the brain under the cerebral cortex, plays an important role in short- and long-term memory. The subventricular zone (SVZ) is the largest germinal niche in the adult mammalian brain. It contains numerous neural stem cells with the ability to generate new neurons and glial cells. The olfactory bulb is a neural structure located in the forebrain that functions to perceive odors.

Neurogenesis was first observed in mice, followed by other vertebrate mammals such as cows, rabbits, monkeys, and, finally, humans. Although the significance of neurogenesis in humans remains unknown, it is important to study because of its potential application for therapy in neurological and neurogenerative injuries and pathologies.

Alvarez-Buylla Research

The Alvarez-Buylla Laboratory is located in the University of California, San Francisco Department of Neurological Surgery. The laboratory studies the mechanisms of neuron generation and migration, neural stem cells in the mammalian brain, the links between neural stem cells or their immediate progeny, and the role of stem cells in the treatment of neurogenerative disease.

About two decades ago, the laboratory discovered that new neurons generated in the SVZ reach the olfactory bulb in rodent brains, becoming completely integrated into functional circuits. This finding was influential in changing the conventional belief that young neurons could not be integrated into functioning circuits of adult brains. The Alvarez-Buylla Laboratory is also interested in researching the mechanisms of cell migration in the adult brain, as well as the ontogeny and proliferation of astrocytes functioning as stem cells in rodent and human brains. These studies include exploring how cells migrate through the complexities of the adult brain, the ways in which new neurons become integrated into already functioning neural circuits, the contributions of neurons to plasticity, and other related issues.

Some of the most recent findings in the laboratory have been identifying the neural stem cells in the SVZ as a subpopulation of astrocytes, as well as the discoveries that adult neural stem cells are heterogeneous and that specific types of neurons are derived from progenitors in particular locations of the rodent SVZ.

The lab also investigates the human SVZ as a potential source of stem cells to treat neurodegenerative disease. The goal of this line of research is to understand how it is organized, study and define its structures, identify the mechanisms of neuroblast migration, isolate SVZ stem cells, and determine the development of the germinal layer through several stages. The Alvarez-Buylla Laboratory also studies inhibitory interneuron progenitor cells that integrate in the postnatal cortex and increase local inhibition. Alvarez-Buylla’s current and future research includes proving that these processes can be used to treat neurodegenerative diseases in a safe manner. These results hold promise for therapies that may help patients suffering from epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease, to other types of pathologies such as mental illness.

Trudy M. Mercadal

Florida Atlantic University

See Also: Embryonic Stem Cells, Methods to Produce; Neural: Cell Types Composing the Tissue; Neural: Current Research on Isolation or Production of Therapeutic Cells.

Further Readings

Gil-Perotin, Sara, Arturo Alvarez-Buylla, and Jose Manuel Garcia-Verdugo. Identification and Characterization of Neural Progenitor Cells in the Adult Mammalian Brain (Advances in Anatomy, Embriology and Cell Biology). New York: Springer, 2009.

Kempermann, Gerd. Adult Neurogenesis. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.

Seki, Tatsunori, Kazunobu Sawamoto, Jack M. Parent, and Arturo Alvarez-Buylla (eds.). Neurogenesis in the Adult Brain I: Neurobiology. New York: Springer, 2011.

Seki, Tatsunori, Kazunobu Sawamoto, Jack M. Parent, and Arturo Alvarez-Buylla (eds.). Neurogenesis in the Adult Brain II: Clinical Implications. New York: Springer, 2011.