Genetic ablation of caveolin-1 increases neural stem cell proliferation in the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the adult mouse brain

Adult neural stem cells are self-renewing multipotent cells that have the potential to replace dysfunctional and/or dying neuronal cells at the site of brain injury or degeneration. Caveolins are well-known tumor-suppressor genes that were recently found to be involved in the regulation of stem cell proliferation. For instance, ablation of the caveolin-1 (Cav-1) gene in mice markedly increases the proliferation of intestinal and mammary stem cells. However, the roles of caveolins in the proliferation of adult neural stem cells still remain unknown. In this study, dual-label immunofluorescence analysis of the proliferation marker, Ki67, and the stem cell markers, nestin and Sox2, was performed on brains of 8 week-old wild-type (WT) and Cav-1 knockout (KO) mice. Our results demonstrate an increased number of Ki67-positive nuclei in the subventricular zone (SVZ) of Cav-1 KO brains. Importantly, our dual-label immunofluorescence analyses demonstrate increased co-localization of Ki67 with both nestin and Sox2 in the SVZ of Cav-1 KO brains. Remarkably similar results were also obtained with Cav-2 and Cav-3 KO mouse brains as well, with increased proliferation of adult neural stem cells. Thus, the SVZ of caveolin KO mouse brains displays an increased proliferation of adult neural stem cells. Caveolin proteins might represent new crucial regulators of adult neural stem cell proliferation.