The dentate gyrus has an important role in learning and memory, and adult neurogenesis in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus may play a role in the acquisition of new memories. The homeobox gene Prox1 is expressed in the dentate gyrus during embryonic development and adult neurogenesis. Here we show that Prox1 is necessary for the maturation of granule cells in the dentate gyrus during development and for the maintenance of intermediate progenitors during adult neurogenesis. We also demonstrate that Prox1-expressing intermediate progenitors are required for adult neural stem cell self-maintenance in the subgranular zone; thus, we have identified a previously unknown non-cell autonomous regulatory feedback mechanism that controls adult neurogenesis in this region of the mammalian brain. Finally, we show that the ectopic expression of Prox1 induces premature differentiation of neural stem cells.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1000460 | DOI Listing |
Neurochem Int
January 2025
Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, 100850, Beijing, People's Republic of China; Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Key Laboratory of Neuropsychopharmacology, 100850, Beijing, People's Republic of China. Electronic address:
The sigma-1 receptor (S1R) attracts significant interests as a potential target for rapid-onset antidepressant-like effects, particularly due to its capacity to swiftly stimulate serotonergic neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN). However, the precise regulatory mechanism involved remains unclear. Therefore, this study aims to examine the interaction between the selective S1R agonist, SA-4503 and 8-OH-DPAT, a serotonin1A (5-HT1A) receptor agonist, in mice with depressive-like behavior induced by chronic restraint stress (CRS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Nutr
January 2025
Jean Mayer USDA HNRCA, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111.
Background: In addition to its important roles in blood coagulation and bone formation, vitamin K (VK) contributes to brain function. Low dietary VK intake, which is common among older adults, is associated with age-related cognitive impairment.
Objective: To elucidate the biological mechanisms underlying VK's effects on cognition, we investigated the effects of low VK (LVK) intake on cognition in C57BL/6 mice.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
February 2025
Zanvyl Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218.
The hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) is thought to orthogonalize inputs from the entorhinal cortex (pattern separation) and relay this information to the CA3 region. In turn, attractor dynamics in CA3 perform a pattern completion or error correction operation before sending its output to CA1. In a mouse model of congenital hypoplasia of the DG, a deficiency in the (Wls) gene, specifically in cells expressing , which targets neuronal progenitors, led to an almost total absence of dentate granule cells and modestly impaired performance in spatial tasks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBehav Brain Res
January 2025
Laboratorio de Neurociencias, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Colima, Colima, Mexico 28040. Electronic address:
Tactile information from the whiskers (vibrissae) travels through the somatosensory cortex to the entorhinal cortex and the hippocampus, influencing development and psychological well-being. The lack of whiskers affects cognitive functions, spatial memory, neuronal firing, spatial mapping, and neurogenesis in the dorsal hippocampus. Recent studies underline the importance of tactile experiences in emotional health, noting that while tactile stimuli modulate the dorsal hippocampus, the effects of tactile deprivation on anxiety-like behaviors and neural activity in regions like the ventral hippocampus and amygdala are less understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe hippocampus forms memories of our experiences by registering processed sensory information in coactive populations of excitatory principal cells or ensembles. Fast-spiking parvalbumin-expressing inhibitory neurons (PV INs) in the dentate gyrus (DG)-CA3/CA2 circuit contribute to memory encoding by exerting precise temporal control of excitatory principal cell activity through mossy fiber-dependent feed-forward inhibition. PV INs respond to input-specific information by coordinating changes in their intrinsic excitability, input-output synaptic-connectivity, synaptic-physiology and synaptic-plasticity, referred to here as experience-dependent PV IN plasticity, to influence hippocampal functions.
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