Transcription factors COUP-TFI and COUP-TFII are required for the production of granule cells in the mouse olfactory bulb.

Neural stem cells (NSCs) persist in the adult mammalian subventricular zone (SVZ) of the lateral ventricle. Primary NSCs generate rapidly dividing intermediate progenitor cells, which in turn generate neuroblasts that migrate along the rostral migratory stream (RMS) to the olfactory bulb (OB). Here, we have examined the role of the COUP-TFI and COUP-TFII orphan nuclear receptor transcription factors in mouse OB interneuron development. We observed that COUP-TFI is expressed in a gradient of low rostral to high caudal within the postnatal SVZ neural stem/progenitor cells. COUP-TFI is also expressed in a large number of migrating neuroblasts in the SVZ and RMS, and in mature interneurons in the OB. By contrast, very few COUP-TFII-expressing (+) cells exist in the SVZ-RMS-OB pathway. Conditional inactivation of COUP-TFI resulted in downregulation of tyrosine hydroxylase expression in the OB periglomerular cells and upregulation of COUP-TFII expression in the SVZ, RMS and OB deep granule cell layer. In COUP-TFI/COUP-TFII double conditional mutant SVZ, cell proliferation was increased through the upregulation of the proneural gene Ascl1. Furthermore, COUP-TFI/II-deficient neuroblasts had impaired migration, resulting in ectopic accumulation of calretinin (CR)+ and NeuN+ cells, and an increase in apoptotic cell death in the SVZ. Finally, we found that most Pax6+ and a subset of CR+ granular cells were lost in the OB. Taken together, these results suggest that COUP-TFI/II coordinately regulate the proliferation, migration and survival of a subpopulation of Pax6+ and CR+ granule cells in the OB.

Zhou X ，Liu F ，Tian M ，Xu Z ，Liang Q ，Wang C ，Li J ，Liu Z ，Tang K ，He M ，Yang Z ... -  《-》

Ghrelin stimulates proliferation, migration and differentiation of neural progenitors from the subventricular zone in the adult mice.

Ghrelin has been shown to regulate neurogenesis in the hippocampus. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible influence of ghrelin on cell proliferation and neuroblast formation in the subventricular zone (SVZ) and rostral migratory system (RMS) and generation of interneurons in the olfactory bulb (OB). We found that ghrelin receptors were expressed in the SVZ-RMS-OB system. Ghrelin knockout (GKO) mice have fewer proliferating neural progenitor cells and neuroblasts in the SVZ, while ghrelin administration attenuated these changes. We also found that not only the number of BrdU-labeled cells but also the fraction of migratory neuroblasts in the RMS was decreased in the GKO mice compared with controls. Treatment of GKO mice with ghrelin restored these numbers to the wild-type control values. Far fewer BrdU/NeuN double-labeled cells were found in the OB of GKO mice than in wild-type mice 4 weeks after labeling, which were increased by ghrelin replacement. GKO mice showed less numbers of BrdU/calbindin, BrdU/calretinin and BrdU/tyrosine hydroxylase double-labeled cells in the periglomerular layer of the OB. However, these numbers were increased to wild-type values after ghrelin administration. Finally, in the GH-deficient spontaneous dwarf rats, ghrelin increased the number of progenitor cells and neuroblasts in the SVZ, without significant effect on the differentiation in the OB. These findings suggest that ghrelin is involved in the regulation of proliferation of progenitor cells in the SVZ, the number of migratory neuroblasts in the SVZ, and the differentiation of interneurons in the OB.

Li E ，Kim Y ，Kim S ，Sato T ，Kojima M ，Park S ... -  《-》

Characterization of immature and mature 5-hydroxytryptamine 3A receptor-expressing cells within the adult SVZ-RMS-OB system.

Neural stem cells in the subventricular zone (SVZ) generate progenitors which in turn give rise to neuroblasts. These neuroblasts then migrate along the rostral migratory stream (RMS) in chains and reach the olfactory bulb (OB), where they mature into local interneurons. Interneurons in the OB are heterogeneous, which are mainly located in granular cell layer (GCL), external plexiform layer (EPL) and glomerular layer (GL). In this study, we show that green fluorescent protein-expressing (GFP+) cells in the SVZ and RMS of the 5HT3aR-BAC(EGFP) transgenic mouse exclusively express transcription factor Sp8 which is expressed in lateral ganglionic embryonic eminence (LGE) and postnatal SVZ. These GFP+ neuroblasts of the 5HT3aR-BAC(EGFP) transgenic mouse migrate along the RMS to the OB where they differentiate into calretinin+ (CR+), parvabumin+ (PV+), vasoactive intestinal peptide+ (VIP+), somatostatin+ (Som+) and tyrosine hydroxylase+ (TH+), but not calbindin+ (CB+) interneurons. These GFP+ interneurons continuously express Sp8 in the OB. Furthermore, these results suggest that GFP-expressing cells are derived from LGE, and this transgenic mouse line will be a useful tool for studying the development and function of interneurons in both neocortex and OB.

Chen R ，Lin C ，You Y ，Liu F ... -  《-》

The Transcription Factors COUP-TFI and COUP-TFII have Distinct Roles in Arealisation and GABAergic Interneuron Specification in the Early Human Fetal Telencephalon.

In human telencephalon at 8-12 postconceptional weeks, ribonucleic acid quantitative sequencing and immunohistochemistry revealed cortical chicken ovalbumin upstream promotor-transcription factor 1 (COUP-TFI) expression in a high ventro-posterior to low anterior gradient except for raised immunoreactivity in the anterior ventral pallium. Unlike in mouse, COUP-TFI and SP8 were extensively co-expressed in dorsal sensory neocortex and dorsal hippocampus whereas COUPTFI/COUPTFII co-expression defined ventral temporal cortex and ventral hippocampus. In the ganglionic eminences (GEs) COUP-TFI immunoreactivity demarcated the proliferative zones of caudal GE (CGE), dorsal medial GE (MGE), MGE/lateral GE (LGE) boundary, and ventral LGE whereas COUP-TFII was limited to ventral CGE and the MGE/LGE boundary. Co-labeling with gamma amino butyric acidergic interneuron markers revealed that COUP-TFI was expressed in subpopulations of either MGE-derived (SOX6+) or CGE-derived (calretinin+/SP8+) interneurons. COUP-TFII was mainly confined to CGE-derived interneurons. Twice as many GAD67+ cortical cells co-labeled for COUP-TFI than for COUP-TFII. A fifth of COUP-TFI cells also co-expressed COUP-TFII, and cells expressing either transcription factor followed posterior or anterio-lateral pathways into the cortex, therefore, a segregation of migration pathways according to COUP-TF expression as proposed in mouse was not observed. In cultures differentiated from isolated human cortical progenitors, many cells expressed either COUP-TF and 30% also co-expressed GABA, however no cells expressed NKX2.1. This suggests interneurons could be generated intracortically from progenitors expressing either COUP-TF.

Alzu'bi A ，Lindsay SJ ，Harkin LF ，McIntyre J ，Lisgo SN ，Clowry GJ ... -  《-》

ER81 and CaMKIV identify anatomically and phenotypically defined subsets of mouse olfactory bulb interneurons.

The mechanisms underlying dopamine (DA) phenotypic differentiation in the olfactory bulb (OB) have not yet been fully elucidated and are the subject of some controversy. OB DA interneurons destined for the glomerular layer were shown to originate in the subventricular zone (SVZ) and in the rostral migratory stream (RMS). The current study investigated whether calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IV (CaMKIV) either alone or together with the Ets transcription factor ER81 was necessary for phenotypic determination during migration of progenitors. In most brain areas, including the OB, CaMKIV and ER81 displayed a reciprocal distribution. In the SVZ, only ER81 could be demonstrated. In the RMS, a subpopulation of progenitors contained ER81, but few, if any, contained CaMKIV. In OB, CaMKIV expression, restricted to deep granule cells, showed limited overlap with ER81. ER81 expression was weak in deep granule cells. Strong labeling occurred in the mitral and glomerular layers, where ER81 colabeled dopaminergic periglomerular cells that expressed either tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) or green fluorescent protein, the latter reporter gene under control of 9-kb of 5' TH promoter. Odor deprivation resulted in a significant 5.2-fold decline in TH immunoreactivity, but ER81 exhibited a relatively small 1.7-fold decline in immunoreactivity. TH expression as well as brain and bulb size were unchanged in CaMKIV knockout mice. These data suggest that ER81 may be required but is not sufficient for DA neuron differentiation and that CaMKIV is not directly involved in TH gene regulation.

Saino-Saito S ，Cave JW ，Akiba Y ，Sasaki H ，Goto K ，Kobayashi K ，Berlin R ，Baker H ... -  《JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY》