scholarly journals Genetic deletion of genes in the cerebellar rhombic lip lineage can stimulate compensation through adaptive reprogramming of ventricular zone-derived progenitors

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Wojcinski ◽  
Morgane Morabito ◽  
Andrew K. Lawton ◽  
Daniel N. Stephen ◽  
Alexandra L. Joyner

AbstractBackgroundThe cerebellum is a foliated posterior brain structure involved in coordination of motor movements and cognition. The cerebellum undergoes rapid growth postnataly due to Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) signaling-dependent proliferation of ATOH1+ granule cell precursors (GCPs) in the external granule cell layer (EGL), a key step for generating cerebellar foliation and the correct number of granule cells. Due to its late development, the cerebellum is particularly vulnerable to injury from preterm birth and stress around birth. We recently uncovered an intrinsic capacity of the developing cerebellum to replenish ablated GCPs via adaptive reprogramming of Nestin-expressing progenitors (NEPs). However, whether this compensation mechanism occurs in mouse mutants affecting the developing cerebellum and could lead to mis-interpretation of phenotypes was not known.MethodsWe used two different approaches to remove the main SHH signaling activator GLI2 in GCPs: 1) our mosaic mutant analysis with spatial and temporal control of recombination (MASTR) technique to deleteGli2in a small subset of GCPs; 2) AnAtohl-Cretransgene to deleteGli2in most of the EGL. Genetic Inducible Fate Mapping (GIFM) and live imaging were used to analyze the behavior of NEPs afterGli2deletion.ResultsMosaic analysis demonstrated that SHH-GLI2 signaling is critical for generating the correct pool of granule cells by maintaining GCPs in an undifferentiated proliferative state and promoting their survival. Despite this, inactivation ofGLI2in a large proportion of GCPs in the embryo did not lead to the expected dramatic reduction in the size of the adult cerebellum. GIFM uncovered that NEPs do indeed replenish GCPs inGli2conditional mutants, and then expand and partially restore the production of granule cells. Furthermore, the SHH signaling-dependent NEP compensation requiresGli2, demonstrating that the activator side of the pathway is involved.ConclusionWe demonstrate that a mouse conditional mutation that results in loss of SHH signaling in GCPs is not sufficient to induce long term severe cerebellum hypoplasia. The ability of the neonatal cerebellum to regenerate after loss of cells via a response by NEPs must therefore be considered when interpreting the phenotypes of conditional mutants affecting GCPs.

Development ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 129 (9) ◽  
pp. 2223-2232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua B. Rubin ◽  
Yoojin Choi ◽  
Rosalind A. Segal

Sonic hedgehog promotes proliferation of developing cerebellar granule cells. As sonic hedgehog is expressed in the cerebellum throughout life it is not clear why proliferation occurs only in the early postnatal period and only in the external granule cell layer. We asked whether heparan sulfate proteoglycans might regulate sonic hedgehog-induced proliferation and thereby contribute to the specialized proliferative environment of the external granule cell layer. We identified a conserved sequence within sonic hedgehog that is essential for binding to heparan sulfate proteoglycans, but not for binding to the receptor patched. Sonic hedgehog interactions with heparan sulfate proteoglycans promote maximal proliferation of postnatal day 6 granule cells. By contrast, proliferation of less mature granule cells is not affected by sonic hedgehog-proteoglycan interactions. The importance of proteoglycans for proliferation increases during development in parallel with increasing expression of the glycosyltransferase genes, exostosin 1 and exostosin 2. These data suggest that heparan sulfate proteoglycans, synthesized by exostosins, may be critical determinants of granule cell proliferation.


1984 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 845-847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uros Roessmann ◽  
Thamnook Wongmongkolrit

✓ Dysplastic gangliocytoma of the cerebellum is reported in a newborn. It is characterized by large ganglion cells in the molecular layer and premature attenuation of the external granule-cell layer. The internal granule-cell layer appears rarefied but otherwise normally organized. It appears that in this disease the migrating granule cells mature too early and become arrested in the molecular layer, because of their abnormal forms, while others continue to migrate and grow in size in their normal location in the inner granule-cell layer.


1990 ◽  
Vol 110 (4) ◽  
pp. 1275-1283 ◽  
Author(s):  
K S O'Shea ◽  
J S Rheinheimer ◽  
V M Dixit

The patterns of deposition of thrombospondin (TSP), a trimeric extracellular matrix glycoprotein, were determined during the initial establishment of the external granule cell layer and the subsequent inward migration of granule cells forming the molecular and (internal) granule cell layers. The early homogeneous deposition of TSP became restricted to the rhombic lip in the region of granule cell exit from the neuroepithelium, and was present between migrating granule cells. During the later inward migration of granule cells, little TSP was associated with dividing granule cells; it was enriched in premigratory granule cells. With the cessation of migration, TSP was lost except in association with fasciculating axons in the molecular layer where staining persisted briefly. At the EM level, TSP was associated with the leading process of granule cells as they associated with Bergmann glial cells and migrated through the molecular layer. TSP was present within granule cell axons; Purkinje cells and their dendrites, as well as Bergmann glial fibers and endfeet were negative for TSP. When anti-TSP antibodies were added to explant cultures of cerebellar cortex during active granule cell migration, a dose-dependent inhibition of migration was observed. In control cultures, granule cells migrated into the (internal) granule cell layer, while granule cells exposed to anti-TSP antibodies were arrested within the external granule cell layer. These results suggest that TSP plays an important role in the histogenesis of the cerebellar cortex by influencing granule cell migration.


Development ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 127 (7) ◽  
pp. 1489-1498 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Chomez ◽  
I. Neveu ◽  
A. Mansen ◽  
E. Kiesler ◽  
L. Larsson ◽  
...  

The rev-erbA(alpha) gene, belonging to the steroid receptor superfamily of transcription factors, is highly conserved during evolution but little is known so far about its functions in development or in adult physiology. Here, we describe genetically altered mice lacking the rev-erbA(alpha) gene. These animals do not show any obvious phenotype in either fat tissue or skeletal muscle, despite the known regulation of rev-erbA(alpha) expression during adipocyte and myotube differentiation in vitro. However, during the second week of life, the cerebellum of rev-erbA(alpha) mutants presents several unexpected abnormalities, such as alterations in the development of Purkinje cells, delay in the proliferation and migration of granule cells from the external granule cell layer and increased apoptosis of neurons in the internal granule cell layer. Interestingly, the expression pattern of rev-erbA(alpha) suggests that the abnormalities observed in the external granule cell layer could be secondary to Purkinje cell alterations. Taken together, our data underline the importance of rev-erbA(alpha)expression for the appropriate balance of transcriptional activators and repressors during postnatal cerebellar development.


Development ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 129 (6) ◽  
pp. 1435-1442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul R. Borghesani ◽  
Jean Michel Peyrin ◽  
Robyn Klein ◽  
Joshua Rubin ◽  
Alexandre R. Carter ◽  
...  

During development of the nervous system, neural progenitors arise in proliferative zones, then exit the cell cycle and migrate away from these zones. Here we show that migration of cerebellar granule cells out of their proliferative zone, the external granule cell layer (EGL), is impaired in Bdnf–/– mice. The reason for impaired migration is that BDNF directly and acutely stimulates granule cell migration. Purified Bdnf–/– granule cells show defects in initiation of migration along glial fibers and in Boyden chamber assays. This phenotype can be rescued by exogenous BDNF. Using time-lapse video microscopy we find that BDNF is acutely motogenic as it stimulates migration of individual granule cells immediately after addition. The stimulation of migration reflects both a chemokinetic and chemotactic effect of BDNF. Collectively, these data demonstrate that BDNF is directly motogenic for granule cells and provides a directional cue promoting migration from the EGL to the internal granule cell layer (IGL). Movies available on-line


2000 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 2421-2430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yo Otsu ◽  
Eiichi Maru ◽  
Hisayuki Ohata ◽  
Ichiro Takashima ◽  
Riichi Kajiwara ◽  
...  

In the epileptic hippocampus, newly sprouted mossy fibers are considered to form recurrent excitatory connections to granule cells in the dentate gyrus and thereby increase seizure susceptibility. To study the effects of mossy fiber sprouting on neural activity in individual lamellae of the dentate gyrus, we used high-speed optical recording to record signals from voltage-sensitive dye in hippocampal slices prepared from kainate-treated epileptic rats (KA rats). In 14 of 24 slices from KA rats, hilar stimulation evoked a large depolarization in almost the entire molecular layer in which granule cell apical dendrites are located. The signals were identified as postsynaptic responses because of their dependence on extracellular Ca2+. The depolarization amplitude was largest in the inner molecular layer (the target area of sprouted mossy fibers) and declined with increasing distance from the granule cell layer. In the inner molecular layer, a good correlation was obtained between depolarization size and the density of mossy fiber terminals detected by Timm staining methods. Blockade of GABAergic inhibition by bicuculline enlarged the depolarization in granule cell dendrites. Our data indicate that mossy fiber sprouting results in a large and prolonged synaptic depolarization in an extensive dendritic area and that the enhanced GABAergic inhibition partly masks the synaptic depolarization. However, despite the large dendritic excitation induced by the sprouted mossy fibers, seizurelike activity of granule cells was never observed, even when GABAergic inhibition was blocked. Therefore, mossy fiber sprouting may not play a critical role in epileptogenesis.


2005 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 2722-2732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yei-Tsung Chen ◽  
Loretta L. Collins ◽  
Hideo Uno ◽  
Chawnshang Chang

ABSTRACT Since testicular orphan nuclear receptor 4 (TR4) was cloned, its physiological function has remained largely unknown. Throughout postnatal development, TR4-knockout (TR4−/−) mice exhibited behavioral deficits in motor coordination, suggesting impaired cerebellar function. Histological examination of the postnatal TR4−/− cerebellum revealed gross abnormalities in foliation; specifically, lobule VII in the anterior vermis was missing. Further analyses demonstrated that the laminations of the TR4−/− cerebellar cortex were changed, including reductions in the thickness of the molecular layer and the internal granule layer, as well as delayed disappearance of the external granule cell layer (EGL). These lamination irregularities may result from interference with granule cell proliferation within the EGL, delayed inward migration of postmitotic granule cells, and a higher incidence of apoptotis. In addition, abnormal development of Purkinje cells was observed in the postnatal TR4−/− cerebellum, as evidenced by aberrant dendritic arborization and reduced calbindin staining intensity. Expression of Pax-6, Sonic Hedgehog (Shh), astrotactin (Astn), reelin, and Cdk-5, genes correlated with the morphological development of the cerebellum, is reduced in the developing TR4−/− cerebellum. Together, our findings suggest that TR4 is required for normal cerebellar development.


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