Specification of the cerebellar territory

Abstract

The cerebellar primordium develops dorsally at an intermediate anteroposterior (AP) level of the neural tube. Its size is modulated by the early anteriorizing and posteriorizing signals, which pattern the neural tube. Two important signaling centers, the midbrain-hindbrain organizer and the roof plate, intersect at the level of the cerebellar anlage and control its positioning, differentiation, growth, survival, and patterning. Neural tube bending in the pontine region induces a widening of the fourth ventricle, which is made possible by choroid plexus differentiation and extension. As a consequence of these morphogenetic changes, the AP axis of the cerebellar primordium is rotated by 90°, and the cerebellar vermis and hemispheres derive from the anterior and posterior parts of the early cerebellar plate, respectively. The cerebellar plate is progressively subdivided along its dorsoventral axis into distinct domains, which generate subsets of cerebellar neurons according to their neurotransmitter phenotype. The roof plate marked by Gdf7 expression is at the origin of choroid plexus cells but does not contribute neurons or glia to the cerebellum. The rhombic lip, marked by Atoh1 expression, produces all the glutamatergic neurons of the cerebellum and a large number of non-cerebellar neurons. Finally, the ventral cerebellar neuroepithelium, marked by Ptf1a expression, generates all the GABAergic neurons and can be further subdivided into two progenitor domains, devoted to the production of Purkinje cells and GABAergic projection neurons of the deep cerebellar nuclei. The so-called cerebellar primordium is not restricted to the production of cerebellar neurons but contributes to a large number of nuclei in the isthmic region.