May 12, 2011 The mammalian nervous system consists of a central
(brain, spinal cord) and peripheral nervous system (e.g. nerves
and sensory ganglia). Although the two systems are very closely
interlinked, they differ anatomically and consist of different
cell types. The cell types of the peripheral nervous system
originate from precursor cells in the embryo called the neural
crest. To date, it was believed that these neural crest stem
cells could generate the neurons and support cells, known as
glial cells, of the peripheral nervous system, but not the cells
of the central nervous system. Environmental conditions clearly
determine the kind of cells into which the neural crest stem
cells develop. Together with colleagues from Paris, the
Freiburg- and Frankfurt-based scientists succeeded in
demonstrating that, under modified conditions, these stem cells
can also generate cells of the central nervous system. They
exposed stem cells from the peripheral nervous system of
embryonic or postnatal mice to different cu