title: The glial sling is a migratory population of developing neurons.
abstract: For two decades the glial sling has been hypothesized to act as a guidance substratum for developing callosal axons. However, neither the cellular nature of the sling nor its guidance properties have ever been clearly identified. Although originally thought to be glioblasts, we show here that the subventricular zone cells forming the sling are in fact neurons. Sling cells label with a number of neuronal markers and display electrophysiological properties characteristic of neurons and not glia. Furthermore, sling cells are continuously generated until early postnatal stages and do not appear to undergo widespread cell death. These data indicate that the sling may be a source of, or migratory pathway for, developing neurons in the rostral forebrain, suggesting additional functions for the sling independent of callosal axon guidance.
authors.affiliation: The University of Maryland, Baltimore, School of Medicine, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, and the Program in Neuroscience, 685 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Tianzhi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Asaf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: Linda J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Richards
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000963:Antimetabolites / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology*; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine / Q000378:metabolism; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D048429:Cell Size; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D000963:Antimetabolites; D015415:Biomarkers; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine