Experiments in rodents and marmoset monkeys indicate that granule neurons o
f the dentate gyrus may be renewable throughout the entire life of the anim
al. Whether this occurs in larger primates remains a matter of contention.
However, a recent study of brain samples from five adult humans who had bee
n injected with the thymidine analog bromodeoxyuridine indicates that new n
eurons might indeed be produced in the dentate gyrus. In this study, hippoc
ampus specimens removed from 18 adult humans for treatment of epilepsy were
examined. The cell cycle marker Ki67, which is expressed from late G1 to M
phase, was demonstrated by immunohistochemistry, and H2b/H3/H4 histone mRN
As, which are expressed during S phase, were demonstrated by in situ hybrid
ization. Only 0.17% of cells in the subgranular layer, the site of neuronal
progenitor cells, were Ki67 immunoreactive but the identity of these could
not be proven. Although the histone in situ hybridization technique was sh
own to work in human fetal brain, no ill phase cells could be demonstrated
in the hippocampus. The generation of new granule neurons in the human hipp
ocampus must occur at a very slow rate. The approaches used in this study a
re likely unsuitable for studying cell populations with low turnover rate.
Further work is needed to determine the fate of newly generated cells in th
e dentate gyrus. This information is of importance to our understanding of
the mechanisms of learning and memory. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.