OSVZ-progenitors of human and ferret neocortex retain epithelial features and expand by integrin signaling

Wieland B Huttner (1)

1 Homebase 4th floor North

A major cause of expansion of the cerebral cortex during evolution is the increase in subventricular zone (SVZ) progenitors. Here we show that progenitors in the outer SVZ (OSVZ) of developing human neocortex, in contrast to rodent SVZ-progenitors which have limited proliferation potential, retain features of radial glia. While delaminating from apical adherens junctions, OSVZ-progenitors maintain a canonical epithelial property, a basal process contacting the basal lamina. OSVZ-progenitor divisions result in asymmetric inheritance of their basal process. Intriguingly, OSVZ-progenitors are also found in the ferret, a gyrencephalic non-primate. Functional disruption of integrins, expressed on the basal process of ferret OSVZ-progenitors, markedly decreases their population size, but not that of other, process-lacking, SVZ-progenitors, in slice culture of ferret neocortex. Our findings suggest that maintenance of a key epithelial property allows integrin-mediated, repeated asymmetric divisions of OSVZ-progenitors, providing a basis for neocortical expansion.

Mots clés: Development

Wieland B Huttner. OSVZ-progenitors of human and ferret neocortex retain epithelial features and expand by integrin signaling. Nature Neuroscience, 2010, ⟨10.1038/nn.2553⟩. ⟨hal-00531149⟩