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Featured Review
Cellscience Reviews Vol 5 No 1
ISSN 1742-8130 |
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GABA: a universal regulator of stem cell proliferation
Stephanie Young & Angélique Bordey
Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Departments of Neurosurgery and Cellular & Molecular Physiology, Yale University, New Haven, USA
Received 21st July © Cellscience 2008
Aside from traditional neurotransmission, γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) through GABAA receptors negatively regulates proliferation of pluripotent and neural stem cells in embryonic and adult tissue. Here, we discuss the proposed intracellular mechanism involving epigenetic changes and possibly intracellular calcium changes responsible for GABA’s action. We then highlight evidence that GABAergic signaling is not limited to the CNS but is widespread through peripheral organs containing adult stem cells. We finally propose that GABA is a universal signal that can be high-jacked by tumor cells to control their own proliferation.
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