Recent evidence has shown that adult neurogenesis is sustained in the hypothalamus, a region of the brain that is the central regulator of homeostasis. While studies support a role for adult neurogenesis in energy balance, the identity of the neural stem/progenitor cell remains contested. Tanycytes present possible candidate(s) due to their radial-glial like morphology and position adjacent to the 3rd ventricle. We have investigated the properties of alpha-tanycytes. Our studies show that the embryonic neural stem/progenitor characteristics of radial glia, including expression profile, a basal process and an apical primary cilium, are maintained in alpha-tanycytes during adulthood. In addition, alpha-tanycytes are multipotent in-vivo and contribute to the other tanycyte populations. A neurosphere assay adds further validity to the idea that alpha-tanycytes are a self-renewing stem cell, and suggest that there is heterogeneity in progenitor status within tanycyte subpopulations. We show, additionally, that alpha-tanycytes are responsive to FGF-signalling, a crucial regulator of proliferation and differentiation during embryogenesis. In current studies we are analysing the response of alpha-tanycytes to glucocorticoids, and asking whether glucocorticoids provoke long-term changes in the hypothalamus.