Singapore discovers brain enzyme that activates dormant neural stem cells Singapore discovers brain enzyme that activates dormant neural stem cells 12 February 2021 | News Photo Credit: Freepik Singapore's Duke-NUS Medical School researchers studying an enzyme in fruit fly larvae have found that it plays an important role in waking up brain stem cells from their dormant ‘quiescent’ state, enabling them to proliferate and generate new neurons. Published in the journal EMBO Reports, the study could help clarify how some neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and microcephaly occur. Pr-set7 is an enzyme involved in maintaining genome stability, DNA repair and cell cycle regulation, as well as turning various genes on or off. This protein, which goes by a few different names, has remained largely unchanged as species have evolved. Professor Wang Hongyan, a professor and deputy director at Duke-NUS’ Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders Programme, and her colleagues set out to understand the protein’s function during brain development.