Thalamocortical axons control the cytoarchitecture of neocortical layers by area-specific supply of VGF
- Kumamoto University, Japan
- National Institute of Genetics, Japan
- Osaka University, Japan
Abstract
Neuronal abundance and thickness of each cortical layer is specific to each area, but how this fundamental feature arises during development remains poorly understood. While some of area-specific features are controlled by intrinsic cues such as morphogens and transcription factors, the exact influence and mechanisms of action by cues extrinsic to the cortex, in particular the thalamic axons, have not been fully established. Here we identify a thalamus-derived factor, VGF, which is indispensable for thalamocortical axons to maintain the proper amount of layer 4 neurons in the mouse sensory cortices. This process is prerequisite for further maturation of the primary somatosensory area, such as barrel field formation instructed by a neuronal activity-dependent mechanism. Our results provide an actual case in which highly site-specific axon projection confers further regional complexity upon the target field through locally secreting signaling molecules from axon terminals.
Data availability
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files; Source data files have been provided for Figures 1-7 and Figure 1-figure supplement 1, Figure 2-figure supplement 1, 2, Figure 5-figure supplment 2, Figure 7-figure supplement 1, 2.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (KM101-2587054400)
- Haruka Sato
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (JP16H06276)
- Kimi Araki
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (18GS0329-01)
- Kenji Shimamura
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (JP16K07375)
- Kenji Shimamura
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (KM100-2633200)
- Haruka Sato
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (KM101-18K1483900)
- Haruka Sato
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (JP06J08049)
- Jun Hatakeyama
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (JP21870030)
- Jun Hatakeyama
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (JP24790288)
- Jun Hatakeyama
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (JP15K19011)
- Jun Hatakeyama
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (JP16H01449)
- Jun Hatakeyama
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (JP17H05771)
- Jun Hatakeyama
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Ethics
Animal experimentation: This study was performed in strict accordance with the guidelines for laboratory animals of Kumamoto University and the Japan Neuroscience Society. All of the animals were handled according to approved institutional animal care and protocols by the Committee on the Ethics of Animal Experiments of Kumamoto University (Permit Number: 27-124, A29-080, 2019-110, 2020-055). All surgery was performed under sodium pentobarbital anesthesia, and every effort was made to minimize suffering.
Copyright
© 2022, Sato et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Thalamocortical axons control the cytoarchitecture of neocortical layers by area-specific supply of VGF
eLife 11:e67549.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.67549
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