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Torrillas de la Cal A, Paniagua-Torija B, Arevalo-Martin A, Faulkes CG, Jiménez AJ, Ferrer I, Molina-Holgado E, Garcia-Ovejero D. The Structure of the Spinal Cord Ependymal Region in Adult Humans Is a Distinctive Trait among Mammals. Cells 2021; 10:2235. [PMID: 34571884 PMCID: PMC8469235 DOI: 10.3390/cells10092235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 08/27/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
In species that regenerate the injured spinal cord, the ependymal region is a source of new cells and a prominent coordinator of regeneration. In mammals, cells at the ependymal region proliferate in normal conditions and react after injury, but in humans, the central canal is lost in the majority of individuals from early childhood. It is replaced by a structure that does not proliferate after damage and is formed by large accumulations of ependymal cells, strong astrogliosis and perivascular pseudo-rosettes. We inform here of two additional mammals that lose the central canal during their lifetime: the Naked Mole-Rat (NMR, Heterocephalus glaber) and the mutant hyh (hydrocephalus with hop gait) mice. The morphological study of their spinal cords shows that the tissue substituting the central canal is not similar to that found in humans. In both NMR and hyh mice, the central canal is replaced by tissue reminiscent of normal lamina X and may include small groups of ependymal cells in the midline, partially resembling specific domains of the former canal. However, no features of the adult human ependymal remnant are found, suggesting that this structure is a specific human trait. In order to shed some more light on the mechanism of human central canal closure, we provide new data suggesting that canal patency is lost by delamination of the ependymal epithelium, in a process that includes apical polarity loss and the expression of signaling mediators involved in epithelial to mesenchymal transitions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Torrillas de la Cal
- Laboratory of Neuroinflammation, Hospital Nacional de Paraplejicos, 45071 Toledo, Spain; (A.T.d.l.C.); (B.P.-T.); (A.A.-M.); (E.M.-H.)
| | - Beatriz Paniagua-Torija
- Laboratory of Neuroinflammation, Hospital Nacional de Paraplejicos, 45071 Toledo, Spain; (A.T.d.l.C.); (B.P.-T.); (A.A.-M.); (E.M.-H.)
| | - Angel Arevalo-Martin
- Laboratory of Neuroinflammation, Hospital Nacional de Paraplejicos, 45071 Toledo, Spain; (A.T.d.l.C.); (B.P.-T.); (A.A.-M.); (E.M.-H.)
| | - Christopher Guy Faulkes
- School of Biological & Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK;
| | - Antonio Jesús Jiménez
- Departamento de Biología Celular, Genética y Fisiología, Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Teatinos, 29071 Malaga, Spain;
- Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga (IBIMA), 29010 Malaga, Spain
| | - Isidre Ferrer
- Institut de Neuropatologia, Servei d’Anatomia Patològica, IDIBELL-Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Universitat de Barcelona, 08908 L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain;
| | - Eduardo Molina-Holgado
- Laboratory of Neuroinflammation, Hospital Nacional de Paraplejicos, 45071 Toledo, Spain; (A.T.d.l.C.); (B.P.-T.); (A.A.-M.); (E.M.-H.)
| | - Daniel Garcia-Ovejero
- Laboratory of Neuroinflammation, Hospital Nacional de Paraplejicos, 45071 Toledo, Spain; (A.T.d.l.C.); (B.P.-T.); (A.A.-M.); (E.M.-H.)
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González P, González-Fernández C, Campos-Martín Y, Mollejo M, Carballosa-Gautam M, Marcillo A, Norenberg M, Rodríguez FJ. Frizzled 1 and Wnt1 as new potential therapeutic targets in the traumatically injured spinal cord. Cell Mol Life Sci 2020; 77:4631-4662. [PMID: 31900623 PMCID: PMC11104978 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-019-03427-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2019] [Revised: 11/21/2019] [Accepted: 12/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Despite the experimental evidence pointing to a significant role of the Wnt family of proteins in physiological and pathological rodent spinal cord functioning, its potential relevance in the healthy and traumatically injured human spinal cord as well as its therapeutic potential in spinal cord injury (SCI) are still poorly understood. To get further insight into these interesting issues, we first demonstrated by quantitative Real-Time PCR and simple immunohistochemistry that detectable mRNA expression of most Wnt components, as well as protein expression of all known Wnt receptors, can be found in the healthy human spinal cord, supporting its potential involvement in human spinal cord physiology. Moreover, evaluation of Frizzled (Fz) 1 expression by double immunohistochemistry showed that its spatio-temporal and cellular expression pattern in the traumatically injured human spinal cord is equivalent to that observed in a clinically relevant model of rat SCI and suggests its potential involvement in SCI progression/outcome. Accordingly, we found that long-term lentiviral-mediated overexpression of the Fz1 ligand Wnt1 after rat SCI improves motor functional recovery, increases myelin preservation and neuronal survival, and reduces early astroglial reactivity and NG2+ cell accumulation, highlighting the therapeutic potential of Wnt1 in this neuropathological situation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pau González
- Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Hospital Nacional de Parapléjicos, Toledo, Spain.
| | | | | | - Manuela Mollejo
- Department of Pathology, Hospital Virgen de La Salud, Toledo, Spain
| | | | - Alexander Marcillo
- Department of Pathology, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, USA
| | - Michael Norenberg
- Department of Pathology, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, USA
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Glia and Neural Stem and Progenitor Cells of the Healthy and Ischemic Brain: The Workplace for the Wnt Signaling Pathway. Genes (Basel) 2020; 11:genes11070804. [PMID: 32708801 PMCID: PMC7397164 DOI: 10.3390/genes11070804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2020] [Revised: 07/10/2020] [Accepted: 07/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Wnt signaling plays an important role in the self-renewal, fate-commitment and survival of the neural stem/progenitor cells (NS/PCs) of the adult central nervous system (CNS). Ischemic stroke impairs the proper functioning of the CNS and, therefore, active Wnt signaling may prevent, ameliorate, or even reverse the negative effects of ischemic brain injury. In this review, we provide the current knowledge of Wnt signaling in the adult CNS, its status in diverse cell types, and the Wnt pathway’s impact on the properties of NS/PCs and glial cells in the context of ischemic injury. Finally, we summarize promising strategies that might be considered for stroke therapy, and we outline possible future directions of the field.
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Stem Cell Therapy for Neurogenic Bladder After Spinal Cord Injury: Clinically Possible? Int Neurourol J 2020; 24:S3-10. [PMID: 32482052 PMCID: PMC7285699 DOI: 10.5213/inj.2040150.075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2020] [Accepted: 05/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Neurogenic bladder (NB) after spinal cord injury (SCI) is a common complication that inhibits normal daily activities and reduces the quality of life. Regrettably, the current therapeutic methods for NB are inadequate. Therefore, numerous studies have been conducted to develop new treatments for NB associated with SCI. Moreover, a myriad of preclinical and clinical trials on the effects and safety of stem cell therapy in patients with SCI have been performed, and several studies have demonstrated improvements in urodynamic parameters, as well as in sensory and motor function, after stem cell therapy. These results are promising; however, further high-quality clinical studies are necessary to compensate for a lack of randomized trials, the modest number of participants, variation in the types of stem cells used, and inconsistency in routes of administration.
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Spatio-temporal and Cellular Expression Patterns of PTK7 in the Healthy and Traumatically Injured Rat and Human Spinal Cord. Cell Mol Neurobiol 2020; 40:1087-1103. [PMID: 31974907 DOI: 10.1007/s10571-020-00794-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2019] [Accepted: 01/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Despite the emerging role of protein tyrosine kinase 7 (PTK7) as a Wnt co-receptor and the relevant functions of the Wnt family of proteins in spinal cord injury (SCI), the potential involvement of PTK7 in SCI is currently unknown. As a first essential step to shed light on this issue, we evaluated the spatio-temporal and cellular expression patterns of PTK7 in healthy and traumatically injured rat and human spinal cords. In the uninjured rats, PTK7 expression was observed in the ependymal epithelium, endothelial cells, meningeal fibronectin-expressing cells, and specific axonal tracts, but not in microglia, astrocytes, neurons, oligodendrocytes, or NG2+ cells. After rat SCI, the mRNA expression of PTK7 was significantly increased, while its spatio-temporal and cellular protein expression patterns also suffered evident changes in the injured region. Briefly, the expression of PTK7 in the affected areas was observed in axons, reactive astrocytes, NG2+ and fibronectin-expressing cells, and in a subpopulation of reactive microglia/macrophages and blood vessels. Finally, in both healthy and traumatically injured human spinal cords, PTK7 expression pattern was similar to that observed in the rat, although some specific differences were found. In conclusion, we demonstrate for the first time that PTK7 is constitutively expressed in the healthy adult rat and human spinal cord and that its expression pattern clearly varied after rat and human SCI which, to our knowledge, constitutes the first experimental evidence pointing to the potential involvement of this co-receptor in physiological and pathological spinal cord functioning.
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Gonzalez-Fernandez C, González P, Rodríguez FJ. New insights into Wnt signaling alterations in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a potential therapeutic target? Neural Regen Res 2020; 15:1580-1589. [PMID: 32209757 PMCID: PMC7437582 DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.276320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by upper and lower motor neuron degeneration, which leads to progressive paralysis of skeletal muscles and, ultimately, respiratory failure between 2–5 years after symptom onset. Unfortunately, currently accepted treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis are extremely scarce and only provide modest benefit. As a consequence, a great effort is being done by the scientific community in order to achieve a better understanding of the different molecular and cellular processes that influence the progression and/or outcome of this neuropathological condition and, therefore, unravel new potential targets for therapeutic intervention. Interestingly, a growing number of experimental evidences have recently shown that, besides its well-known physiological roles in the developing and adult central nervous system, the Wnt family of proteins is involved in different neuropathological conditions, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. These proteins are able to modulate, at least, three different signaling pathways, usually known as canonical (β-catenin dependent) and non-canonical (β-catenin independent) signaling pathways. In the present review, we aim to provide a general overview of the current knowledge that supports the relationship between the Wnt family of proteins and its associated signaling pathways and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis pathology, as well as their possible mechanisms of action. Altogether, the currently available knowledge suggests that Wnt signaling modulation might be a promising therapeutic approach to ameliorate the histopathological and functional deficits associated to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and thus improve the progression and outcome of this neuropathology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Pau González
- Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Hospital Nacional de Parapléjicos (HNP), Toledo, Spain
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González-Fernández C, Gonzalez P, Andres-Benito P, Ferrer I, Rodríguez FJ. Wnt Signaling Alterations in the Human Spinal Cord of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Cases: Spotlight on Fz2 and Wnt5a. Mol Neurobiol 2019; 56:6777-6791. [PMID: 30924074 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-019-1547-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2018] [Accepted: 03/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder with no cure, and elucidation of the mechanisms mediating neuronal death in this neuropathology is crucial to develop effective treatments. It has recently been demonstrated in animal models that the Wnt family of proteins is involved in this neuropathology, although its potential involvement in case of humans is almost unknown. We analyzed the expression of Wnt signaling components in healthy and ALS human spinal cords by quantitative RT-PCR, and we found that most Wnt ligands, modulators, receptors, and co-receptors were expressed in healthy controls. Moreover, we observed clear alterations in the mRNA expression of different components of this family of proteins in human spinal cord tissue from ALS cases. Specifically, we detected a significant increase in the mRNA levels of Wnt3, Wnt4, Fz2, and Fz8, together with several non-significant increases in the mRNA expression of other genes such as Wnt2b, Wnt5a, Fz3, Lrp5, and sFRP3. Based on these observations and on previous reports of studies performed in animal models, we evaluated with immunohistochemistry the protein expression patterns of Fz2 and Fz5 receptors and their main ligand Wnt5a in control samples and ALS cases. No substantial changes were observed in Fz5 protein expression pattern in ALS samples. However, we detected an increase in the amount of Fz2+ astrocytes in the borderline between gray and white matter at the ventral horn in ALS samples. Finally, Wnt5a expression was observed in neurons and astrocytes in both control and ALS samples, although Wnt5a immunolabeling in astroglial cells was significantly increased in ALS spinal cords in the same region where changes in Fz2 were observed. Altogether, these observations strongly suggest that the Wnt family of proteins, and more specifically Fz2 and Wnt5a, might be involved in human ALS pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos González-Fernández
- Molecular Neurology Group, Hospital Nacional de Parapléjicos (HNP), Finca la Peraleda s/n, 45071, Toledo, Spain
| | - Pau Gonzalez
- Molecular Neurology Group, Hospital Nacional de Parapléjicos (HNP), Finca la Peraleda s/n, 45071, Toledo, Spain
| | - Pol Andres-Benito
- Department of Pathology and Experimental Therapeutics, Service of Pathologic Anatomy, IDIBELL-Bellvitge University Hospital, CIBERNED, Hospitalet de Llobregat, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Isidro Ferrer
- Department of Pathology and Experimental Therapeutics, Service of Pathologic Anatomy, IDIBELL-Bellvitge University Hospital, CIBERNED, Hospitalet de Llobregat, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Francisco Javier Rodríguez
- Molecular Neurology Group, Hospital Nacional de Parapléjicos (HNP), Finca la Peraleda s/n, 45071, Toledo, Spain.
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Paniagua-Torija B, Norenberg M, Arevalo-Martin A, Carballosa-Gautam MM, Campos-Martin Y, Molina-Holgado E, Garcia-Ovejero D. Cells in the adult human spinal cord ependymal region do not proliferate after injury. J Pathol 2018; 246:415-421. [PMID: 30091291 DOI: 10.1002/path.5151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2018] [Revised: 07/09/2018] [Accepted: 08/01/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
In vertebrates that regenerate the injured spinal cord, cells at the ependymal region proliferate and coordinate the formation of bridges between the lesion stumps. In mammals, these cells also proliferate profusely around the central canal after spinal cord injury, although their actual contribution to repair is controversial. In humans, however, the central canal disappears from early childhood in the majority of individuals, being replaced by astrocyte gliosis, ependymocyte clusters, and perivascular pseudo-rosettes. In this human ependymal remnant, cells do not proliferate under normal conditions, but it is not known if they do after a lesion. Here, we studied the human ependymal remnant after traumatic spinal cord injury using samples from 21 individuals with survival times ranging from days to months post-injury. With three different monoclonal antibodies raised against two different proliferation markers (Ki67 and MCM2), we found that the ependymal remnant in adult humans does not proliferate after injury at any time or distance from the lesion. Our results seriously challenge the view of the spinal cord ependymal region as a neurogenic niche in adult humans and suggest that it would not be involved in cell replacement after a lesion. Copyright © 2018 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Michael Norenberg
- Department of Neurological Surgery and The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Angel Arevalo-Martin
- Laboratory of Neuroinflammation, Hospital Nacional de Paraplejicos (SESCAM), Toledo, Spain
| | - Melissa M Carballosa-Gautam
- Department of Neurological Surgery and The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
| | | | - Eduardo Molina-Holgado
- Laboratory of Neuroinflammation, Hospital Nacional de Paraplejicos (SESCAM), Toledo, Spain
| | - Daniel Garcia-Ovejero
- Laboratory of Neuroinflammation, Hospital Nacional de Paraplejicos (SESCAM), Toledo, Spain
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Laser-Capture Microdissection for the Analysis of Rat and Human Spinal Cord Ependyma by qPCR. Methods Mol Biol 2018. [PMID: 29344868 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7558-7_17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register]
Abstract
In the last few decades many efforts have been dedicated to decipher the nature and regenerative potential of neurogenic niches and endogenous stem cells after damage of the central nervous system. In the spinal cord, it has been largely focused on the ependymal region, which hosts neural precursors/stem cells (NSC) in rodents but differs between species and ages. In the current chapter, we detail our protocol to study the gene expression profile of this region using fresh frozen blocks of rat and human post-mortem spinal cords. We describe how to prepare and process those tissues, how to identify and dissect the ependymal region using Laser-Capture Microdissection (LCMD), and how to isolate and amplify RNA with different integrity states to finally obtain enough material for performing gene expression assays using Taqman® Low Density Arrays. LCMD technique maintains tissue integrity allowing for subsequent analysis without manipulation steps that may alter molecular properties of cells and the eventual loss of delicate cell types in comparison with other approaches that require previous disaggregation of the tissue and cell manipulation before isolation.
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Walsh P, Truong V, Hill C, Stoflet ND, Baden J, Low WC, Keirstead SA, Dutton JR, Parr AM. Defined Culture Conditions Accelerate Small-molecule-assisted Neural Induction for the Production of Neural Progenitors from Human-induced Pluripotent Stem Cells. Cell Transplant 2017; 26:1890-1902. [PMID: 29390875 PMCID: PMC5802631 DOI: 10.1177/0963689717737074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2017] [Revised: 09/20/2017] [Accepted: 09/25/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The use of defined conditions for derivation, maintenance, and differentiation of human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) provides a superior experimental platform to discover culture responses to differentiation cues and elucidate the basic requirements for cell differentiation and fate restriction. Adoption of defined systems for reprogramming, undifferentiated growth, and differentiation of hiPSCs was found to significantly influence early stage differentiation signaling requirements and temporal kinetics for the production of primitive neuroectoderm. The bone morphogenic protein receptor agonist LDN-193189 was found to be necessary and sufficient for neural induction in a monolayer system with landmark antigens paired box 6 and sex-determining region Y-box 1 appearing within 72 h. Preliminary evidence suggests this neuroepithelium was further differentiated to generate ventral spinal neural progenitors that produced electrophysiologically active neurons in vitro, maintaining viability posttransplantation in an immunocompromised host. Our findings support current developments in the field, demonstrating that adoption of defined reagents for the culture and manipulation of pluripotent stem cells is advantages in terms of simplification and acceleration of differentiation protocols, which will be critical for future clinical translation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Walsh
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Stem Cell Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Vincent Truong
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Stem Cell Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Caitlin Hill
- Stem Cell Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Nicolas D. Stoflet
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Jessica Baden
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Stem Cell Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Walter C. Low
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Stem Cell Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Susan A. Keirstead
- Stem Cell Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - James R. Dutton
- Stem Cell Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Ann M. Parr
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Stem Cell Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
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