QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online 16 September 2003
doi: 10.1242/jcs.00762

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Movies All Versions of this Article: jcs.00762v1 116/21/4419    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hayashi, K. Articles by Takata, K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hayashi, K. Articles by Takata, K. Pubmed/NCBI databases Compound via MeSH Substance via MeSH

Inhibitory neurons from fetal rat cerebral cortex exert delayed axon formation and active migration in vitro

¹ Department of Cell Biology, Institute for Molecular and Cellular Regulation, Gunma University, 3-39-15 Showamachi, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8512, Japan
² Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Gunma University School of Medicine, 3-39-22 Showamachi, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8512, Japan

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: hayashi{at}showa.gunma-u.ac.jp)

Accepted 4 July 2003

Inhibitory and excitatory neurons exhibit distinct patterns of development in the mammalian cerebral cortex. The morphological development of inhibitory and excitatory neurons derived from fetal rat cerebral cortex has now been compared in vitro. Inhibitory neurons were identified by immunofluorescence staining with antibodies to -aminobutyric acid, and axon formation was detected by staining with antibodies to phosphorylated neurofilaments. In chemically defined, glia-free and low-density cultures, excitatory neurons formed axons within three days of plating. By contrast, inhibitory neurons required more than six days to form axons. Time-lapse analysis over six days revealed that most inhibitory neurons were bipolar and that their two processes exhibited alternate growth and retraction without giving rise to axons. Movement of the cell body towards the growing process was apparent in about one-half of inhibitory neurons, whereas such movement was never seen in excitatory neurons. The migratory behavior of neurons was further investigated by culture on a glial cell monolayer. Inhibitory neurons migrated over substantially larger distances than did excitatory neurons. The centrosome of inhibitory neurons translocated to the base of the newly emerging leading process, suggesting the existence of a force that pulls intracellular organelles towards the leading process. Centrosome translocation was not detected in excitatory neurons. These observations suggest that the developmental programs of excitatory and inhibitory neurons differ. Inhibitory neurons thus possess a more effective cytoskeletal machinery for migration than excitatory neurons and they form axons later.

Key words: Axon formation, Migration, Interneuron, Time-lapse microscopy

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Bellion, J.-P. Baudoin, C. Alvarez, M. Bornens, and C. Metin Nucleokinesis in Tangentially Migrating Neurons Comprises Two Alternating Phases: Forward Migration of the Golgi/Centrosome Associated with Centrosome Splitting and Myosin Contraction at the Rear J. Neurosci., June 15, 2005; 25(24): 5691 - 5699. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]