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A neuronal migratory pathway crossing from diencephalon to telencephalon populates amygdala nuclei

Nature Neuroscience volume 13, pages 680–689 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

Neurons usually migrate and differentiate in one particular encephalic vesicle. We identified a murine population of diencephalic neurons that colonized the telencephalic amygdaloid complex, migrating along a tangential route that crosses a boundary between developing brain vesicles. The diencephalic transcription factor OTP was necessary for this migratory behavior.

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Figure 1: OTP expression during embryonic development.
Figure 2: Characterization of the OTP-expressing amygdaloid cells.
Figure 3: Cell migration from the hypothalamus to the amygdala.
Figure 4: Cellular migration from the hypothalamus to the amygdala.
Figure 5: Diencephalic migratory cells express OTP (red).
Figure 6: OTP-silenced cells failed to colonize the telencephalon.
Figure 7: Failure of OTP-expressing cells to migrate in Otp−/− embryos.
Figure 8: Altered patterning of the amygdala in Otp−/− embryos.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J. Lerma, A. Nieto, M.L. Ceci, A. Blanchart and J. García-Marqués for helpful comments; P. Bovolenta and C. Sánchez-Camacho for their kind gift of the pCAG plasmid; F. Vaccarino and G. Corte for the generous gift of antibodies to Otp and Foxg1; L. Menéndez de la Prida for providing the GAD-GFP transgenic mice; A. Kastanauskaite and L. María Suarez for their help with the intracellular injections of Lucifer Yellow and M. Sefton for editorial assistance. This work was supported by grants from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (BFU2007-60351/BFI), the OLFACTOSENSE Consortium of the Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (P-SEM-0255-2006) and the Castilla-La Mancha Health Research Foundation (FISCAM PI2007-66) to J.A.DC., and the FP6 for the EUTRACC Integrate Project (LSHG-CT-2007-037445), the 'Stem Cell Project' of Fondazione Roma and the Italian Association for Cancer Research to A.S. Funding for M.P. was provided by Fundación Centro de Investigaciones de Enfermedades Neurológicas (PI006-08).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cellular and Developmental Neurobiology Department, Instituto Cajal (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), Laboratory of Telencephalic Development, Molecular, Madrid, Spain

    Fernando García-Moreno, María Pedraza, Laura López-Mascaraque & Juan A De Carlos

  2. CEINGE Biotecnologie Avanzate, Naples, Italy

    Luca G Di Giovannantonio, Michela Di Salvio & Antonio Simeone

  3. Scuola Europea di Medicina Molecolare, Naples, Italy

    Antonio Simeone

  4. Institute of Genetics and Biophysics 'A. Buzzati-Traverso', Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Naples, Italy

    Antonio Simeone

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  1. Fernando García-Moreno
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Contributions

J.A.D.C., L.L.-M. and F.G.-M. planned the experiments. F.G.-M. and M.P. carried out the experiments and analyzed the data. A.S., L.G.D.G. and M.D.S. performed and analyzed most of the experiments on Otp mutant mice. J.A.D.C. and F.G.-M. discussed the results and wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Juan A De Carlos.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Ecographic visualization of in utero injection. (MOV 1425 kb)

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García-Moreno, F., Pedraza, M., Di Giovannantonio, L. et al. A neuronal migratory pathway crossing from diencephalon to telencephalon populates amygdala nuclei. Nat Neurosci 13, 680–689 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2556

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