Maggi Roberto, Zasso Jacopo, Conti Luciano
Laboratory of Developmental Neuroendocrinology, Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano Milano, Italy ; Interuniversity Centre for the Research on the Molecular Bases of Reproductive Diseases (CIRMAR) Milano, Italy.
Centre for Integrative Biology (CIBIO), Università degli Studi di Trento Povo, Italy.
Front Cell Neurosci. 2015 Jan 6;8:440. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2014.00440. eCollection 2014.
The adult hypothalamus regulates many physiological functions and homeostatic loops, including growth, feeding and reproduction. In mammals, the hypothalamus derives from the ventral diencephalon where two distinct ventricular proliferative zones have been described. Although a set of transcription factors regulating the hypothalamic development has been identified, the exact molecular mechanisms that drive the differentiation of hypothalamic neural precursor cells (NPCs) toward specific neuroendocrine neuronal subtypes is yet not fully disclosed. Neurogenesis has been also reported in the adult hypothalamus at the level of specific niches located in the ventrolateral region of ventricle wall, where NPCs have been identified as radial glia-like tanycytes. Here we review the molecular and cellular systems proposed to support the neurogenic potential of developing and adult hypothalamic NPCs. We also report new insights on the mechanisms by which adult hypothalamic neurogenesis modulates key functions of this brain region. Finally, we discuss how environmental factors may modulate the adult hypothalamic neurogenic cascade.
成年下丘脑调节许多生理功能和稳态回路，包括生长、进食和繁殖。在哺乳动物中，下丘脑起源于腹侧间脑，其中已描述了两个不同的脑室增殖区。尽管已经确定了一组调节下丘脑发育的转录因子，但驱动下丘脑神经前体细胞（NPC）分化为特定神经内分泌神经元亚型的确切分子机制尚未完全揭示。在成年下丘脑位于脑室壁腹外侧区域的特定微环境水平也有神经发生的报道，其中NPC已被鉴定为放射状胶质样的室管膜细胞。在这里，我们综述了为支持发育中和成年下丘脑NPC的神经发生潜能而提出的分子和细胞系统。我们还报告了关于成年下丘脑神经发生调节该脑区关键功能机制的新见解。最后，我们讨论环境因素如何调节成年下丘脑神经发生级联反应。
