The development of the hippocampal dentate gyrus is a complex process in which several signaling pathways are involved and likely interact with each other. The extracellular matrix molecule Reelin is necessary both for normal development of the dentate gyrus radial glia and neuronal migration. In Reelin-deficient Reeler mice, the hippocampal radial glial scaffold fails to form, and granule cells are dispersed throughout the dentate gyrus. Here, we show that both formation of the radial glia scaffold and lamination of the dentate gyrus depend on intact Notch signaling. Inhibition of Notch signaling in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures induced a phenotype reminiscent of the Reelin-deficient hippocampus, i.e., a reduced density of radial glia fibers and granule cell dispersion. Moreover, a Reelindependent rescue of the Reeler phenotype was blocked by inhibition of Notch activation. In the Reeler dentate gyrus, we found reduced Notch1 signaling; the activated Notch intracellular domain as well as the transcriptional targets, brain lipid-binding protein, and Hes5 are decreased. Disabled1, a component of the Reelin-signaling pathway colocalizes with Notch1, thus indicating a direct interaction between the Reelin-and Notch1-signaling pathways. These results suggest that Reelin enhances Notch1 signaling, thereby contributing to the formation of the radial glial scaffold and the normal development of the dentate gyrus.

Adhesion molecules play important roles in the development and regeneration of the CNS and PNS. We found that the immunoglobulin superfamily recognition molecule L1 influences proliferation and differentiation of neural precursor cells. Substrate-coated L1 reduced proliferation of precursor cells in a dose-dependent manner and increased neuronal and decreased astrocytic differentiation when compared with poly-l-lysine or laminin substrates. Enhancement of neuronal differentiation was more effective if L1 was offered via the cell surface of transfected fibroblasts compared with substrate-coated purified L1. Furthermore, L1 decreased cholinergic-subtype differentiation and accelerated GABAergic differentiation of precursor cell-derived neurons in comparison with poly-l-lysine or laminin. Generation of dopaminergic neurons was not influenced by L1. Experiments with precursor cells generated from L1-deficient mice indicate that L1 acts via heterophilic interaction on proliferation and differentiation of L1-negative precursor cells and via a homophilic or L1 coreceptor-mediated interaction on maturation of precursor cell-derived L1-positive neurons. Clonal analysis revealed that L1 equally inhibits proliferation of monopotential, bipotential, and multipotential precursor cells, but selectively enhances neuronal differentiation of multipotential and bipotential neuron-astrocyte precursors. Our observations support a new role for L1 or L1 ligands in neural precursor cell proliferation and differentiation.

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Adult hippocampal neurogenesis has been implicated in several brain functions, including learning and memory processes. It also plays an important role in the aetiology of anxiety disorders, depression and age-related deficits. The endogenous stem cell pool is also known to hold great potential for ameliorating the diseased or aged brain. It has been shown that certain brain activities lead to an adjustment of adult neurogenesis, which can further be controlled by the interplay between inhibitory and excitatory processes. The roles of the inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the proliferation and differentiation of stem cells and progenitor cells, as well as in the control of network activity of hippocampal stem cells, have been extensively investigated in recent decades. This review highlights the general functions of GABAergic signalling and provides an exciting insight into the diverse functions of GABA in adult hippocampal stem cell biology.

Reelin controls neuronal migration and layer formation. Previous studies in mice deficient in Reelin focused on the result of the developmental process in fixed tissue sections. It has remained unclear whether Reelin affects the migratory process, migration directionality, or migrating neurons guided by the radial glial scaffold. Moreover, Reelin has been regarded as an attractive signal because newly generated neurons migrate toward the Reelin-containing marginal zone. Conversely, Reelin might be a stop signal because migrating neurons in, but not in wild-type mice, invade the marginal zone. Here, we monitored the migration of newly generated -expressing dentate granule cells in slice cultures from, -like mutants and wild-type mice of either sex using real-time microscopy. We discovered that not the actual migratory process and migratory speed, but migration directionality of the granule cells is controlled by Reelin. While wild-type granule cells migrated toward the marginal zone of the dentate gyrus, neurons in cultures from and -like mutants migrated randomly in all directions as revealed by vector analyses of migratory trajectories. Moreover, live imaging of granule cells in slices cocultured to wild-type dentate gyrus showed that the neurons changed their directions and migrated toward the Reelin-containing marginal zone of the wild-type culture, thus forming a compact granule cell layer. In contrast, directed migration was not observed when Reelin was ubiquitously present in the medium of slices. These results indicate that topographically administered Reelin controls the formation of a granule cell layer. Neuronal migration and the various factors controlling its onset, speed, directionality, and arrest are poorly understood. Slice cultures offer a unique model to study the migration of individual neurons in an almost natural environment. In the present study, we took advantage of the expression of by newly generated, migrating granule cells to analyze their migratory trajectories in hippocampal slice cultures from wild-type mice and mutants deficient in Reelin signaling. We show that the compartmentalized presence of Reelin is essential for the directionality, but not the actual migratory process or speed, of migrating granule cells leading to their characteristic lamination in the dentate gyrus.