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Experience-dependent regulation of NG2 progenitors in the developing barrel cortex

Nature Neuroscience volume 15, pages 1192–1194 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

We found that, during the formation of the mouse barrel cortex, NG2 cells received glutamatergic synapses from thalamocortical fibers and preferentially accumulated along septa separating the barrels. Sensory deprivation reduced thalamocortical inputs on NG2 cells and increased their proliferation, leading to a more uniform distribution in the deprived barrels. Thus, early sensory experience regulates thalamocortical innervation on NG2 cells, as well as their proliferation and distribution during development.

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Figure 1: NG2+ progenitors are functionally innervated by thalamocortical glutamatergic synapses and accumulate at the border between cortical barrels.
Figure 2: Whisker lesion at birth alters the density of NG2+ cells in the barrel fields.
Figure 3: Location in the barrel field and sensory experience regulate the thalamocortical innervation and proliferation rate of NG2+ progenitor cells.

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Acknowledgements

We thank D. Bergles and M. Huntsman for discussion. We thank L.-J. Chew, J. Corbin, M. Huntsman and J. Liu for critically reading an earlier version of this manuscript. We thank E. Quinlan (University of Maryland) for her advice on the dark-rearing experiments. We also thank R. Chittajallu and J. Isaac for their help with the thalamocortical slice preparation. This work was supported by grants from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH; R01NS045702, R01NS056427) and NIH Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (P30HD40677) to V.G., an NIH grant (K08NS073793) to J.S., and by Agence Nationale de la Recherche Jeune Chercheuse Jeune Chercheur Grant Oligospine (J.-M.M.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Neuroscience Research, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA

    Jean-Marie Mangin, Peijun Li, Joseph Scafidi & Vittorio Gallo

  2. INSERM URMS 952, CNRS UMR 7224, Paris, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France

    Jean-Marie Mangin

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  1. Jean-Marie Mangin
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Contributions

J.-M.M. designed and performed all of the experiments and analyzed the data. P.L. and J.S. performed the dark-rearing experiments and analyzed the data. V.G. participated in the design of the experiments, supervised the project and wrote the manuscript with J.-M.M.

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Correspondence to Jean-Marie Mangin or Vittorio Gallo.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Mangin, JM., Li, P., Scafidi, J. et al. Experience-dependent regulation of NG2 progenitors in the developing barrel cortex. Nat Neurosci 15, 1192–1194 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3190

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