Requirement for early-generated neurons recognized by monoclonal antibody lot1 in the formation of lateral olfactory tract.

During development, mitral cells, the main output neurons of the olfactory bulb, project axons into a very narrow part of the telencephalon and form an axonal bundle called the lateral olfactory tract (LOT). The present study shows that before the first mitral cell axons elongate, the LOT position is already marked with a subset of early-generated neurons that are recognized by monoclonal antibody lot1 (lot cells). Mitral cell axons choose the lot cell position for their growth pathway and maintain a close contact with the cells until LOT formation is completed. Ablation of lot cells prevented LOT formation in organotypic culture. These results suggest that lot cells are "guidepost cells" for mitral cell axons.