Potential drugs and targets for brain repair
New neurons, and support cells called oligodendrocytes, arise during development throughout adulthood from neural stem cells in the subventricular zone, a region of the forebrain adjacent to the ventricles. The transcriptional changes associated with the development of each cell type in the newborn mouse have been catalogued in publicly accessible databases. Similarly, the transcriptional changes produced by thousands of chemicals approved for clinical use have also been catalogued. In the new study, the authors used these databases (which included their own previously generated data) to find overlaps between transcriptional changes associated with cell differentiation and drug treatments, on the premise that these might identify potential therapies to reverse neurodegenerative diseases. Toward that end, they characterized differences in signaling pathways in "microdomains" of the subventricular zone where neurons or oligodendrocytes get their start in life. They found se...