The adult mammalian brain continuously generates new neurons in the olfactory bulb and hippocampus throughout life. Adult neurogenesis, a highly dynamic process, has been shown to be exquisitely modulated by neuronal circuit activity at different stages, from proliferation of adult neural progenitors, to differentiation, maturation, integration, and survival of newborn neurons in the adult brai...

It has become apparent that chromatin modification plays a critical role in the regulation of cell-type-specific gene expression. Here, we show that an inhibitor of histone deacetylase, valproic acid (VPA), induced neuronal differentiation of adult hippocampal neural progenitors. In addition, VPA inhibited astrocyte and oligodendrocyte differentiation, even in conditions that favored lineage-sp...

In the neurogenic niche of the adult mammalian brain, self-renewing neural stem cells (NSCs) give rise to committed neuronal progenitors within the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the dentate gyrus (DG).1 Astrocytes are an essential cell population that defines the SGZ niche, and astrocyte-derived factors have instructive effects that promote adult neurogenesis.2, 3 Recently, we showed that Wnt3 expr...

The developing cerebral cortex contains apical and basal types of neurogenic progenitor cells. Here, we investigated the cellular properties and neurogenic output of basal progenitors, also called intermediate neuronal progenitors (INPs). We found that basal mitoses expressing transcription factor Tbr2 (an INP marker) were present throughout corticogenesis, from embryonic day 10.5 through birth...

Abstract The piriform cortex (PC) is a major cortical processing center for the sense of smell that receives direct inputs from olfactory bulb. In mice, PC consists three neuronal layers, which are populated by cells with distinct developmental origins. One origin neurons pool Dbx1-expressing neural progenitors located in ventral pallium at pallial-subpallial boundary. Since precise mechanisms ...

Cortical intermediate progenitors (IPs) comprise a secondary neuronal progenitor pool that arises from radial glia (RG). IPs are essential for generating the correct number of cortical neurons, but the factors that regulate the expansion and differentiation of IPs in the embryonic cortex are essentially unknown. In this study, we show that the Wnt-β-catenin pathway (canonical Wnt pathway) regul...