Neural Stem Cell Fate in Health and Disease: Redox, Metabolism, and Inflammation

Neural stem cells (NSCs) sit at the heart of brain development, lifelong neurogenesis, and the brain’s capacity to respond to injury and disease. Their fate decisions, whether to remain quiescent, proliferate, differentiate, or undergo cell death, are shaped by a dense network of intrinsic signals and microenvironmental cues. Among these, redox balance, metabolic state, and inflammatory signalling have emerged as central regulators that influence NSC behaviour across the lifespan and in pathological contexts ranging from neurodegeneration to glioma.Despite considerable progress, our understanding of how these three axes interact to shape NSC fate remains fragmented. Oxidative stress, mitochondrial metabolism, and immune signalling are often studied in isolation, yet they converge on shared molecular pathways and on the same niche components. A more integrated view is needed to clarify how redox and metabolic shifts feed into inflammatory responses, how chronic neuroinflammation reshapes NSC niches, and how these processes can be harnessed for repair and therapy.This Research Topic welcomes Original Research, Reviews, Mini Reviews, Methods, and Perspective articles that address NSC biology through the lens of redox signalling, metabolism, and inflammation, alone or in combination. We are interested in studies spanning embryonic, adult, and aged neurogenesis, as well as work focused on neurodegenerative disease, traumatic injury, stroke, neurodevelopmental disorders, and brain tumours.Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:• Redox regulation of NSC quiescence, proliferation, and differentiation • Metabolic reprogramming during NSC fate transitions• Mitochondrial dynamics and bioenergetics in neurogenesis • Inflammatory signalling within the neurogenic niche• Crosstalk between microglia, astrocytes, and NSCs• Oxidative and metabolic contributions to neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disease• NSC responses to ischaemic, traumatic, and inflammatory injury• Glioma stem cells and their redox, metabolic, and immune microenvironment• Therapeutic strategies targeting redox, metabolic, or inflammatory pathways in NSC based regeneration• Emerging models and tools for studying NSC fate in health and diseaseBy bringing these perspectives together, this collection aims to offer a clearer, mechanistically grounded picture of how NSCs sense and respond to their chemical and immunological environment, and to highlight new opportunities for translational work in regenerative neuroscience. Topic editors: Filippo Torrisi, Federico Pio Fabrizio, Juliette Aury-Landas Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81686/neural-stem-cell-fate-in-health-and-disease-redox-metabolism-and-inflammation