Septins are GTPases required for the completion of cytokinesis in diverse organisms, yet their roles in cytokinesis or other cellular processes remain unknown. Here we describe studies of a newly identified septin, CDCrel-1, which is predominantly expressed in the nervous system. This protein was associated with membrane fractions, and a significant fraction of the protein copurified and coprecipitated with synaptic vesicles. In detergent extracts, CDCrel-1 and another septin, Nedd5, immunoprecipitated with the SNARE protein syntaxin by directly binding to syntaxin via the SNARE interaction domain. Transfection of HIT-T15 cells with wild-type CDCrel-1 inhibited secretion, whereas GTPase dominant-negative mutants enhanced secretion. These data suggest that septins may regulate vesicle dynamics through interactions with syntaxin.

The sensory neurons that subserve olfaction, olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs), are regenerated throughout life, making the neuroepithelium in which they reside [the olfactory epithelium (OE)] an excellent model for studying how intrinsic and extrinsic factors regulate stem cell dynamics and neurogenesis during development and regeneration. Numerous studies indicate that transcription factors and signaling molecules together regulate generation of ORNs from stem and progenitor cells during development, and work on regenerative neurogenesis indicates that these same factors may operate at postnatal ages as well. This review describes our current knowledge of the identity of the OE neural stem cell; the different cell types that are thought to be the progeny (directly or indirectly) of this stem cell; and the factors that influence cell differentiation in the OE neuronal lineage. We review data suggesting that (1) the ORN lineage contains three distinct proliferating cell types-a stem cell and two populations of transit amplifying cells; (2) in established OE, these three cell types are present within the basal cell compartment of the epithelium; and (3) the stem cell that gives rise ultimately to ORNs may also generate two glial cell types of the primary olfactory pathway: sustentacular cells (SUS), which lie within OE proper; and olfactory ensheathing cells (OEC), which envelope the olfactory nerve. In addition, we describe factors that are both made by and found within the microenvironment of OE stem and progenitor cells, and which exert crucial growth regulatory effects on these cells. Thus, as with other regenerating tissues, the basis of regeneration in the OE appears be a population of stem cells, which resides within a microenvironment (niche) consisting of factors crucial for maintenance of its capacity for proliferation and differentiation. D

SUMMARYStudies of the olfactory epithelium model system have demonstrated that production of neurons is regulated by negative feedback. Previously, we showed that a locally produced signal, the TGF superfamily ligand GDF11, regulates the genesis of olfactory receptor neurons by inhibiting proliferation of the immediate neuronal precursors (INPs) that give rise to them. GDF11 is antagonized by follistatin (FST), which is also produced locally. Here, we show that Fst -/-mice exhibit dramatically decreased neurogenesis, a phenotype that can only be partially explained by increased GDF11 activity. Instead, a second FST-binding factor, activin B (ACTB), inhibits neurogenesis by a distinct mechanism: whereas GDF11 inhibits expansion of INPs, ACTB inhibits expansion of stem and early progenitor cells. We present data supporting the concept that these latter cells, previously considered two distinct types, constitute a dynamic stem/progenitor population in which individual cells alternate expression of Sox2 and/or Ascl1. In addition, we demonstrate that interplay between ACTB and GDF11 determines whether stem/progenitor cells adopt a glial versus neuronal fate. Altogether, the data indicate that the transition between stem cells and committed progenitors is neither sharp nor irreversible and that GDF11, ACTB and FST are crucial components of a circuit that controls both total cell number and the ratio of neuronal versus glial cells in this system. Thus, our findings demonstrate a close connection between the signals involved in the control of tissue size and those that regulate the proportions of different cell types.