Generation of excitatory and inhibitory neurons from common progenitors via Notchsignaling in the cerebellum

Research Published June 8 2021

Crédit photo : Tingting Zhang & Bassem Hassan

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Brain neurons arise from relatively few progenitors generating an enormous diversity of neuronal types. Nonetheless, a cardinal feature of mammalian brain neurogenesis is thought to be that excitatory and inhibitory neurons derive from separate, spatially segregated, progenitors. Whether bi-potential progenitors with an intrinsic capacity to generate both lineages exist and how such a fate decision may be regulated is unknown. Using cerebellar development as a model, we discover that individual progenitors can give rise to both inhibitory and excitatory lineages. Gradations of Notch activity determine the fates of the progenitors and their daughters. Daughters with the highest levels of Notch activity retain the progenitor fate, with intermediate levels of Notch activity generate inhibitory neurons, while daughters with very low levels of Notch signaling adopt the excitatory fate. Therefore, Notch mediated binary cell fate choice is a mechanism for regulating the ratio of excitatory to inhibitory neurons from common progenitors.

SourceGeneration of excitatory and inhibitory neurons from common progenitors via Notch signaling in the cerebellum: Cell Reports

 

 

Scientific teams

Team "Brain Development"
Team leader
Bassem HASSAN PhD, DR1, INSERM
Main domain : Cellular & molecular neurosciences Bassem HASSAN’s team investigates the formation of neurons and neural circuits during brain development, focusing on the transcriptional control of stem cells fate during early neurogenesis in Drosophila and mouse, and the emergence of individuality in Drosophila visual circuits and behavior.
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