First published online June 27, 2005
Development 132, 1404e (2005)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
Essential glial cues for cerebellar development
During CNS development, intrinsic and extrinsic signals guide the migration
of neurons to form laminae, compartments in which neurons differentiate.
Defects in neuronal migration are known to cause brain malformations in
humans, but whether defects in glial cells, which provide environmental cues
for neuronal migration, cause similar problems is less clear. Yue and
colleagues now provide the most compelling evidence to date that Bergmann glia
are important for neuronal migration in the mouse cerebellum (see
p. 3281). They show
first that deleting the tumour suppressor gene Pten in both neurons
and glia leads to severe lamination defects. Then, by specifically deleting
Pten in Bergmann glial cells, they reveal that the premature
differentiation of Bergmann glial cells caused by PTEN loss produces severe
defects in cerebellar neuron migration and laminar formation. Thus, they
conclude, Bergmann glia provide crucial, developmental stage-dependent
extrinsic cues during cerebellar development.
Related articles in Development:
- PTEN deletion in Bergmann glia leads to premature differentiation and affects laminar organization
- Qing Yue, Matthias Groszer, Jose S. Gil, Arnold J. Berk, Albee Messing, Hong Wu, and Xin Liu
Development 2005 132: 3281-3291.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
