Insights into ligand expression heterogeneity across multiple cell types in the adult forebrain that regulates neural stem cell behavior

In the adult mammalian central nervous system (CNS), neural cell generation is restricted to two highly specialized germinal niches. These are the subventricular zone (SVZ) that borders the forebrain lateral ventricles and the subgranular zone of the hippocampus. In the case of the former niche, the SVZ gives rise daily to thousands of migratory neuroblasts that travel long distances to the olfactory bulb via the rostral migratory stream. Neural stem cells (NSCs) first engage through a sequence of activation phe no types and give rise to transiently amplifying progenitors (TAPs) that subsequently differentiate into neuroblasts. Once in the olfactory bulb, they generate phenotypically distinct neurons. Most of these constitute the interneuron class that is preferentially derived from the lateral portion of the SVZ, whilst a small proportion of projection neurons are also formed from the dorsal SVZ.