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Roles of Wnt Signaling in the Neurogenic Niche of the Adult Mouse Ventricular–Subventricular Zone

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Abstract

In many animal species, the production of new neurons (neurogenesis) occurs throughout life, in a specialized germinal region called the ventricular–subventricular zone (V-SVZ). In this region, neural stem cells undergo self-renewal and generate neural progenitor cells and new neurons. In the olfactory system, the new neurons migrate rostrally toward the olfactory bulb, where they differentiate into mature interneurons. V-SVZ-derived new neurons can also migrate toward sites of brain injury, where they contribute to neural regeneration. Recent studies indicate that two major branches of the Wnt signaling pathway, the Wnt/β-catenin and Wnt/planar cell polarity pathways, play essential roles in various facets of adult neurogenesis. Here, we review the Wnt signaling-mediated regulation of adult neurogenesis in the V-SVZ under physiological and pathological conditions.

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Abbreviations

APC:

Adenomatous polyposis coli

Celsr:

Cadherin EGF LAG seven-pass G-type receptor

CNS:

Central nervous system

CSF:

Cerebrospinal fluid

DAPI:

4′,6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole

DKK:

Dickkopf

Dvl:

Dishevelled

Fzd:

Frizzled

GSK3β:

Glycogen synthase kinase 3β

Hipk1:

Homeodomain-interacting protein kinase-1

JNK:

c-Jun N-terminal kinase

LEF:

Lymphoid enhancer binding factor

NPC:

Neural progenitor cell

NSC:

Neural stem cell

OB:

Olfactory bulb

OPC:

Oligodendrocyte progenitor cell

PCP:

Planar cell polarity

RMS:

Rostral migratory stream

SGZ:

Subgranular zone

TCF:

T cell transcription factor

TLX:

Tailless

Vangl2:

Van Gogh like-2

V-SVZ:

Ventricular–subventricular zone

WIP1:

Wild-type p53-induced phosphatase 1

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Acknowledgments

We apologize to all whose work we could not cite because of space limitation. We thank Dr. Naoko Kaneko for critical reading of the manuscript, Dr. Kazuhide Adachi, Dr. Makiko Ikeda, and all our collaborators for their contributions to original research, and members of Sawamoto laboratory for discussions. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers 26250019, 26640046, 22122004, 15H01217, 15H01384 (to K.S.), and 26830014 (to M.S.), the Takeda Science Foundation (to K.S., and M.S.), and the Terumo Life Science Foundation (to K.S.).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya, 467-8601, Japan

      Yuki Hirota, Masato Sawada, Shih-hui Huang, Takashi Ogino & Kazunobu Sawamoto

    2. Laboratory of Physiological Chemistry, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

      Shinya Ohata

    3. Department of Dermatology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, 160-8582, Japan

      Akiharu Kubo

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    1. Yuki Hirota
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    Correspondence to Kazunobu Sawamoto.

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    Yuki Hirota, Masato Sawada and Shih-hui Huang have contributed equally to this work.

    Special Issue: 40th Year of Neurochemical Research.

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    Hirota, Y., Sawada, M., Huang, Sh. et al. Roles of Wnt Signaling in the Neurogenic Niche of the Adult Mouse Ventricular–Subventricular Zone. Neurochem Res 41, 222–230 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-015-1766-z

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