title: In and out from the cortex: development of major forebrain connections.
abstract: In this review we discuss recent advances in the understanding of the development of forebrain projections attending to their origin, fate determination, and axon guidance. Major forebrain connections include callosal, corticospinal, corticothalamic and thalamocortical projections. Although distinct transcriptional programs specify these subpopulations of projecting neurons, the mechanisms involved in their axonal development are similar. Guidance by short- and long-range molecular cues, interaction with intermediate target populations and activity-dependent mechanisms contribute to their development. Moreover, some of these connections interact with each other showing that the development of these axonal tracts is a well-orchestrated event. Finally, we will recapitulate recent discoveries that challenge the field of neural wiring that show that these forebrain connections can be changed once formed. The field of reprogramming has arrived to postmitotic cortical neurons and has showed us that forebrain connectivity is not immutable and might be changed by manipulations in the transcriptional program of matured cells.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante, CSIC & Universidad Miguel Hernández, 03550 Sant Joan d'Alacant, Spain. Electronic address: eleyva@umh.es.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Leyva-Díaz
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: López-Bendito
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D016548:Prosencephalon / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: A1; CC; COUP-TF interacting protein 2; CP; CPN; CSMN; CST; CTA; Ctip2; DCC; DF; DTB; E; IC; IGF-1; IZ; Insulin-like growth factor-1; MGN; NCAM; Neuropilin-1; Npn-1; PRN; PSPB; RTN; SVZ; Satb2; Special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 2; TCA; TF; V1; VB; VZ; auditory cortex; axon guidance; callosal projection neurons; corpus callosum; cortical plate; corticospinal motor neurons; corticospinal tract; corticothalamic axons; dLGN; deleted in colorectal carcinoma; diencephalon-telencephalon boundary; dorsal funiculus; dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus; embryonic day; fate determination; intermediate zone; internal capsule; medial geniculate nucleus; neural cell adhesion molecule; pallial–subpallial boundary; perireticular thalamic nucleus; reticular thalamic nucleus; subventricular zone; thalamocortical axons; transcription factor; vTel; ventral telencephalon; ventricular zone; ventrobasal nucleus; visual cortex