Active adult neurogenesis is one of the most exciting discoveries in neuroscience of the last decade. The subventricular zone (SVZ) of the lateral ventricle (LV) and the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the dentate gyrus (DG) in the hippocampus are the largest germinal zones of sustained neurogenesis during adulthood in the mammalian central nervous system. Astrocyte-like type B cells in the adult SVZ are thought to be multipotent neural stem cells (NSCs). These cells give rise to transient amplifying type C cells, which in turn differentiate into type A cells (neuroblasts) that migrate to the olfactory bulb (OB) through the rostral migratory stream (RMS). NSCs in the SGZ mainly give rise to new granular cells in the DG which are thought to be important for spatial learning and memory. Adult neurogenesis in the SVZ represents a unique system to study regulation of NSC proliferation, differentiation and directed neuronal migration in vivo. We have generated several mouse models which can be used to introduce genetic mutations specifically in NSCs. We are currently using these models to study:

• Genetic and epigenetic regulation of neural stem cells
• Neoplastic neural stem cells
• Mouse models of brain tumors