Phagocytic activity of neuronal progenitors regulates adult neurogenesis

I like the term phagocytic, I'm sure there is only a minute number of people who understand what is means. And I like the idea that thousands of neurons are generated daily. Now lets understand how to support them and get them to provide functionality that was taken away in the stroke.
Its not asking for much.
http://www.nature.com/ncb/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ncb2299.html
Whereas thousands of new neurons are generated daily during adult life, only a fraction of them survive and become part of neural circuits; the rest die, and their corpses are presumably cleared by resident phagocytes. How the dying neurons are removed and how such clearance influences neurogenesis are not well understood. Here, we identify an unexpected phagocytic role for the doublecortin (DCX)-positive neuronal progenitor cells during adult neurogenesis. Our in vivo andex vivo studies demonstrate that DCX⁺ cells comprise a significant phagocytic population within the neurogenic zones. Intracellular engulfment protein ELMO1, which promotes Rac activation downstream of phagocytic receptors, was required for phagocytosis by DCX⁺ cells. Disruption of engulfment in vivo genetically (in Elmo1-null mice) or pharmacologically (in wild-type mice) led to reduced uptake by DCX⁺ cells, accumulation of apoptotic nuclei in the neurogenic niches and impaired neurogenesis. Collectively, these findings indicate a paradigm wherein DCX⁺ neuronal precursors also serve as phagocytes, and that their phagocytic activity critically contributes to neurogenesis in the adult brain.