RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Retinoic Acid Signaling Identifies a Distinct Precursor Population in the Developing and Adult Forebrain
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 7636
OP 7647
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0485-05.2005
VO 25
IS 33
A1 Gloria Thompson Haskell
A1 Anthony-Samuel LaMantia
YR 2005
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/25/33/7636.abstract
AB We asked whether retinoic acid (RA), an established transcriptional regulator in regenerating and developing tissues, acts directly on distinct cell classes in the mature or embryonic forebrain. We identified a subset of slowly dividing precursors in the adult subventricular zone (SVZ) that is transcriptionally activated by RA. Most of these cells express glial fibrillary acidic protein, a smaller subset expresses the epidermal growth factor receptor, a few are terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated biotinylated UTP nick end labeling positive, and they can be mitotically labeled by sustained rather than acute bromodeoxyuridine exposure. RA activation in similar cells in SVZ-derived neurospheres depends on retinoid synthesis from the premetabolite retinol. The apparent influence of RA on precursors in vitro is consistent with key properties of RA activation in the SVZ; in neurospheres, altered retinoid signaling elicits neither cell death nor an acute increase in cell proliferation. There is apparent continuity of RA signaling in the forebrain throughout life. RA-activated, proliferative precursors with radial glial characteristics are found in the dorsal lateral ganglionic eminence and ventrolateral palliumembryonic rudiments of the SVZ. Thus, endogenous RA signaling distinguishes subsets of neural precursors with glial characteristics in a consistent region of the adult and developing forebrain.