Unveiling neural stem cell quiescence: a crosstalk with the extracellular matrix niche

Neural stem cells (NSCs) in the subependymal zone (SEZ) reside in a very specialized microenvironment that tightly regulates their activation state. Three NSC populations coexist in the niche, quiescent (qNSCs), primed and activated (aNSCs), which display unique, actively modulated, molecular identities. One of the specialized extrinsic properties that affect NSC quiescence-to-activation transitions is the extracellular matrix (ECM). The SEZ is the only region in the whole mouse brain that has two basement membrane (BM) structures: vascular and speckled BMs. Further, it displays higher stiffness compared to non-neurogenic areas, suggesting that both composition and ECM properties could part…