Axon Degeneration Gated by Retrograde Activation of Somatic Pro-Apoptotic Signaling The signaling driving axon degeneration upon local deprivation is proposed to reside within axons. The authors instead support a model in which, despite the apoptotic machinery being present in axons, the cell body is an active participant in gating axonal caspase activation and axon degeneration. [Cell] Abstract | Graphical Abstract | Press Release Insertional Mutagenesis Identifies a STAT3/Arid1b/β-Catenin Pathway Driving Neurofibroma Initiation Genetic deletion of Stat3 in Schwann cell progenitors (SCPs) and Schwann cells prevented neurofibroma formation, decreasing SCP self-renewal and β-catenin activity. β-catenin expression rescued the effects of Stat3 loss in SCPs. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract Age-Related Neurogenesis Decline in the Subventricular Zone Is Associated with Specific Cell Cycle Regulation Changes in Activated Neural Stem Cells Using a fluorescence-activated cell sorting technique that allows for the prospective purification of the main neurogenic populations from the subventricular zone, scientists demonstrated an early decline in adult neurogenesis with a dramatic loss of progenitor cells in four month-old young adult mice. [Sci Rep] Full Article Traumatic Brain Injury Causes Aberrant Migration of Adult-Born Neurons in the Hippocampus Researchers assessed the destination of adult-born neurons following traumatic brain injury. They found that a large percentage of immature neurons migrated past their normal stopping site at the inner granular cell layer (GCL), and became misplaced in the outer GCL of the hippocampal dentate gyrus. [Sci Rep] Full Article ER Stress and Autophagic Perturbations Lead to Elevated Extracellular α-Synuclein in GBA-N370S Parkinson’s iPSC-Derived Dopamine Neurons The authors analyzed ten independent induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines from three controls and three unrelated Parkinson’s disease patients heterozygous for the GBA-N370S mutation, and identified relevant disease mechanisms. After differentiation into dopaminergic neurons, they observed misprocessing of mutant glucocerebrosidase protein in the ER, associated with activation of ER stress and abnormal cellular lipid profiles. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article | Graphical Abstract | Press Release EVA1A/TMEM166 Regulates Embryonic Neurogenesis by Autophagy Scientists showed that Eva1a/Tmem166, an autophagy-related gene, regulates neural stem cell self-renewal and differentiation. Eva1a depletion impaired the generation of newborn neurons, both in vivo and in vitro. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article | Graphical Abstract Altered Kv2.1 Functioning Promotes Increased Excitability in Hippocampal Neurons of an Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Model The authors investigated Kv2.1 currents and its relation to the intrinsic synaptic activity of hippocampal neurons from 3xTg-AD (triple transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease) mice, a widely employed preclinical Alzheimer’s disease model. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article ER-α36, a Novel Variant of ERα, Is Involved in the Regulation of Tamoxifen-Sensitivity of Glioblastoma Cells The significance of ER-α36 to tamoxifen resistance in glioblastoma cells was examined. An analysis of ER-α36 expression in two glioblastoma cell lines U87-MG and U251, showed that ER-α36 was anchored to the cytoplasmic membrane of these cells via caveolin-1. [Steroids] Abstract |