Specification of cerebellar neurons

Abstract

The cerebellum consists of about ten types of neurons that have distinct characteristics in terms of their location, morphology, immunoreactivity and physiology. They can be categorized into two groups; glutamatergic excitatory and GABAergic inhibitory neurons. Excitatory neurons are comprised of glutamatergic deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN) neurons, granule cells and unipolar brush cells (UBCs). Inhibitory neurons include GABAergic DCN neurons, Purkinje cells, Golgi cells, Lugaro cells, basket cells, and stellate cells. GABAergic DCN neurons are interneurons that contribute to local circuitry and projection neurons that extend axons towards the inferior olivary nucleus. As all cerebellar GABAergic interneurons express Pax2 (Maricich and Herrup 1999), they are called Pax2+ interneurons (Pax2+ INs). Recent studies have partly uncovered the molecular machinery for neuronal subtype specification in the cerebellum.