(HealthScoutNews) -- Certain types of stem cells found in the gut of adult laboratory rats challenges the widely held belief that these kinds of cells disappear in animals before birth, once the peripheral nervous system develops, say two University of Michigan Medical School studies in a recent issue of the journal Neuron.

The cells, neural stem cells, are primitive cells that generate the peripheral nervous system.

"We know that stem cells exist in the adult central nervous system. But this is the first indication that they also remain in the peripheral nervous system -- not only after birth, but into adult life," says study author Dr. Sean J. Morrison, U-M Medical School assistant professor of internal medicine and of cell and developmental biology.

In early embryos, the central and peripheral nervous systems develop in different locations, Morrison says. The central nervous system's brain and spinal cord develop in one area.

In another area called the neural crest, stem cells generate peripheral neurons and glial cells responsible for gut function, sense of touch, and the flight-or-fight response, Morrison says.

"We don't know what these neural crest stem cells are doing in the gut or whether they persist into adult life in humans, as they do in rats. The importance of the study is that it provides the first evidence that stem cells persist in the adult peripheral nervous system. Our results will lead to additional research, which could lead to new ways of using stem cells to promote peripheral nervous system repair after injury or disease," Morrison says.

More Information

Here's a primer on stem cells from The National Institutes of Health.

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