Electrical activity controls area-specific expression of neuronal apoptosis in the mouse developing cerebral cortex

eLife

Salim Sharopov¹  Jenq-Wei Yang¹  Anne Sinning¹  Heiko J Luhmann¹  Werner Kilb¹  Oriane Blanquie¹ 

[1] Institute of Physiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany;

关键词: cerebral cortex;    activity patterns;    apoptosis;    cell death;    development;    whisker deafferentation;   

DOI  :  10.7554/eLife.27696

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Programmed cell death widely but heterogeneously affects the developing brain, causing the loss of up to 50% of neurons in rodents. However, whether this heterogeneity originates from neuronal identity and/or network-dependent processes is unknown. Here, we report that the primary motor cortex (M1) and primary somatosensory cortex (S1), two adjacent but functionally distinct areas, display striking differences in density of apoptotic neurons during the early postnatal period. These differences in rate of apoptosis negatively correlate with region-dependent levels of activity. Disrupting this activity either pharmacologically or by electrical stimulation alters the spatial pattern of apoptosis and sensory deprivation leads to exacerbated amounts of apoptotic neurons in the corresponding functional area of the neocortex. Thus, our data demonstrate that spontaneous and periphery-driven activity patterns are important for the structural and functional maturation of the neocortex by refining the final number of cortical neurons in a region-dependent manner.

【 授权许可】

Unknown