[How is the sense of smell connected? Cellular and molecular mechanisms guiding the development of the synaptic connections from the nose to the cortex (II)].

As discussed in the first part of this review, the development of the olfactory system offers a series of fascinating peculiarities that make it one of the models that has been most widely studied in order to reach an understanding of the mechanisms involved in the development of the nervous system. In the first part we reviewed the different mechanisms based on contact (laminins, cell adhesion molecules, ephrins, etc.) and on secretion (semaphorins, slits, growth factors, etc.) that are involved in the formation of the synaptic connections among the olfactory epithelium, the olfactory bulb and the olfactory cortex. In this second part we will review the molecular mechanisms responsible for the intracortical connections in the main olfactory system, as well as the limited information available concerning the accessory olfactory system. We shall also review the mechanisms involved in the migration of the interneuron precursors from the sub-ventricular area of the forebrain to the olfactory bulb, which is another crucial event in the development of this system.