La Jolla, CA—A newly identified molecular pathway that directs stem cells to produce glial cells yields insights into the neurobiology of Down's syndrome and a number of central nervous system disorders characterized by too many glial cells, according to a recent study by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

Their findings, to be published in the March 13 online edition of Cell Death and Differentiation, indicate that synaptojanin-1, a central component of the pathway, is essential to production of glia, brain cells that act as neurons' personal assistants. Down's syndrome, spinal cord injury, Alzheimer's disease, and stroke all are linked by an overproduction of glia. Understanding this molecular pathway may also have implications for the onset of glioblastoma, the most common and malignant type of brain tumor.

Read the full press release on the Salk Institute for Biological Studies website.