Clonal Production and Organization of Inhibitory Interneurons in the Neocortex

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 334; no. 6055; pp. 480 - 486
• Main Authors: Brown, Keith N., Chen, She, Han, Zhi, Lu, Chun-Hui, Tan, Xin, Zhang, Xin-Jun, Ding, Liya, Lopez-Cruz, Alejandro, Saur, Dieter, Anderson, Stewart A., Huang, Kun, Shi, Song-Hai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 28.10.2011; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Brain research; Cell Lineage; Cell Movement; Clone Cells - cytology; Clone Cells - physiology; Cloning; Daughter cells; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Knock-In Techniques; Interneurons; Interneurons - cytology; Interneurons - physiology; Mice; Mitosis; Neocortex; Neocortex - cytology; Neocortex - embryology; Neural Inhibition; Neural Stem Cells - cytology; Neural Stem Cells - physiology; Neurogenesis; Neuroglia; Neuroglia - cytology; Neuroglia - physiology; Neurons; Neuroscience; Preoptic Area - cytology; Preoptic Area - embryology; Progenitor cells; Retroviridae; Rodents; Stem cells; Telencephalon - cytology; Telencephalon - embryology; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Cerebral cortex; Central nervous system; Precursor cell; Development; Telencephalon; Encephalon; Interneuron
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1208884

The neocortex contains excitatory neurons and inhibitory interneurons. Clones of neocortical excitatory neurons originating from the same progenitor cell are spatially organized and contribute to the formation of functional microcircuits. In contrast, relatively little is known about the production and organization of neocortical inhibitory interneurons. We found that neocortical inhibitory interneurons were produced as spatially organized clonal units in the developing ventral telencephalon. Furthermore, clonally related interneurons did not randomly disperse but formed spatially isolated clusters in the neocortex. Individual clonal clusters consisting of interneurons expressing the same or distinct neurochemical markers exhibited clear vertical or horizontal organization. These results suggest that the lineage relationship plays a pivotal role in the organization of inhibitory interneurons in the neocortex.