The immortal strand hypothesis proposes that asymmetrically dividing stem cells (SCs) selectively segregate chromosomes that bear the oldest DNA templates. We investigated cosegregation in neural stem cells (NSCs). After exposure to the thymidine analogue 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU), which labels newly synthesized DNA, a subset of neural precursor cells were shown to retain BrdU signal. It was confirmed that some BrdU-retaining cells divided actively, and that these cells exhibited some characteristics of SCs. This asymmetric partitioning of DNA then was demonstrated during mitosis, and these results were further supported by real time imaging of SC clones, in which older and newly synthesized DNA templates were distributed asymmetrically after DNA synthesis. We demonstrate that NSCs are unique among precursor cells in the uneven partitioning of genetic material during cell divisions.

Embryonic cortical neural stem cells apparently have a transient existence, as they do not persist in the adult cortex. We sought to determine the fate of embryonic cortical stem cells by following Emx1IREScre; LacZ/EGFP double-transgenic murine cells from midgestation into adulthood. Lineage tracing in combination with direct cell labeling and time-lapse video microscopy demonstrated that Emx1-lineage embryonic cortical stem cells migrate ventrally into the striatal germinal zone (GZ) perinatally and intermingle with striatal stem cells. Upon integration into the striatal GZ, cortical stem cells down-regulate Emx1 and up-regulate Dlx2, which is a homeobox gene characteristic of the developing striatum and striatal neural stem cells. This demonstrates the existence of a novel dorsal-to-ventral migration of neural stem cells in the perinatal forebrain.

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Retinal stem cells (RSCs) exist as rare pigmented ciliary epithelial cells in adult mammalian eyes. We hypothesized that RSCs are at the top of the retinal cell lineage. Thus, genes expressed early in embryonic development to establish the retinal field in forebrain neuroectoderm may play important roles in RSCs. Pax6, a paired domain and homeodomain-containing transcription factor, is one of the earliest genes expressed in the eye field and is considered a master control gene for retinal and eye development. Here, we demonstrate that Pax6 is enriched in RSCs. Inactivation of Pax6 in vivo results in loss of competent RSCs as assayed by the failure to form clonal RSC spheres from the optic vesicles of conventional Pax6 knockout embryos and from the ciliary epithelial cells of adult Pax6 conditional knockout mice. In vitro clonal inactivation of Pax6 in adult RSCs results in a serious proliferation defect, suggesting that Pax6 is required for the proliferation and expansion of RSCs.

We compared the diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) catalyzed phosphorylation of 1-O-hexanoyl-2-oleoylglycerol (HOG) with 1-O-hexanoyl-2-arachidonoylglycerol (HAG). We assayed the activity of DGKalpha and DGKzeta using a liposomal-based assay system. Liposomal assays show that the DGKalpha and, to a lesser extent, DGKzeta preferentially act on substrates containing an arachidonoyl group when this group is incorporated into alkylacylglycerols. The activity of DGKalpha was 82 times greater with HAG compared to HOG. DGKzeta is 10 times more active in catalyzing the phosphorylation of HAG compared to HOG. Although diacylglycerols were better substrates for both DGKalpha and DGKzeta than the alkylacylglycerols, no specificity was exhibited for arachidonoyl-containing diacylglycerols. However, this specificity for HAG over HOG is modulated by the phospholipid composition of the liposome. Addition of cholesterol and/or phosphatidylethanolamine partially reduces the substrate selectivity. We also analyzed the kinetic constants for the phosphorylation of both diacylglycerol and 1-alkyl-2-acylglycerol catalyzed by the alpha, epsilon, or zeta isoforms using a soluble Triton mixed micelle system. We found that all three isoforms of DGK can phosphorylate 1-alkyl-2-acylglycerols but generally at a lower rate than for the corresponding diacylglycerol. The specificity of DGKepsilon for diacylglycerols containing an arachidonoyl group was retained when the ester group in the C-1 position is replaced with an ether linkage. In contrast, DGKalpha and, to a lesser extent, DGKzeta had greater specificity for arachidonoyl-containing 1-alkyl-2-acylglycerols than for arachidonoyl-containing diacylglycerols. This demonstrates that the acyl chain specificity is affected by the structure of the lipid headgroup.