Sekerková Gabriella, Watanabe Masahiko, Martina Marco, Mugnaini Enrico
Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 5-465 Searle bldg. 320 E. Superior str, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA,
Brain Struct Funct. 2014 Mar;219(2):719-49. doi: 10.1007/s00429-013-0531-9. Epub 2013 Mar 16.
Sublineage diversification of specific neural cell classes occurs in complex as well as simply organized regions of the central and peripheral nervous systems; the significance of the phenomenon, however, remains insufficiently understood. The unipolar brush cells (UBCs) are glutamatergic cerebellar interneurons that occur at high density in vestibulocerebellum. As they are classified into subsets that differ in chemical phenotypes, intrinsic properties, and lobular distribution, they represent a valuable neuronal model to study subclass diversification. In this study, we show that cerebellar UBCs of adult rats and mice form two subclasses-type I and type II UBCs-defined by somatodendritic expression of calretinin (CR), mGluR1α, phospholipases PLCβ1 and PLCβ4, and diacylglycerol kinase-beta (DGKβ). We demonstrate that PLCβ1 is associated only with the CR(+) type I UBCs, while PLCβ4 and DGKβ are exclusively present in mGluR1α(+) type II UBCs. Notably, all PLCβ4(+) UBCs, representing about 2/3 of entire UBC population, also express mGluR1α. Furthermore, our data show that the sum of CR(+) type I UBCs and mGluR1α(+) type II UBCs accounts for the entire UBC class identified with Tbr2 immunolabeling. The two UBC subtypes also show a very different albeit somehow overlapping topographical distribution as illustrated by detailed cerebellar maps in this study. Our data not only complement and extend the previous knowledge on the diversity and subclass specificity of the chemical phenotypes within the UBC population, but also provide a new angle to the understanding of the signaling networks in type I and type II UBCs.
特定神经细胞类别的亚谱系多样化发生在中枢神经系统和周围神经系统复杂以及组织简单的区域;然而,这一现象的意义仍未得到充分理解。单极刷细胞(UBCs)是谷氨酸能小脑中间神经元,在前庭小脑区域高密度存在。由于它们被分类为化学表型、内在特性和小叶分布不同的亚群,它们代表了研究亚类多样化的有价值的神经元模型。在本研究中,我们表明成年大鼠和小鼠的小脑UBCs形成两个亚类——I型和II型UBCs,由钙结合蛋白(CR)、代谢型谷氨酸受体1α(mGluR1α)、磷脂酶PLCβ1和PLCβ4以及二酰基甘油激酶β(DGKβ)的树突体表达来定义。我们证明PLCβ1仅与CR(+)I型UBCs相关,而PLCβ4和DGKβ仅存在于mGluR1α(+)II型UBCs中。值得注意的是,所有PLCβ4(+)UBCs,约占整个UBC群体的2/3,也表达mGluR1α。此外,我们的数据表明,CR(+)I型UBCs和mGluR1α(+)II型UBCs的总和占通过Tbr2免疫标记鉴定的整个UBC类别。如本研究详细的小脑图谱所示,这两种UBC亚型也显示出非常不同但在某种程度上重叠的拓扑分布。我们的数据不仅补充和扩展了关于UBC群体内化学表型多样性和亚类特异性的先前知识,而且为理解I型和II型UBCs中的信号网络提供了一个新角度。