title: Neurodevelopmental origin and adult neurogenesis of the neuroendocrine hypothalamus.
abstract: The adult hypothalamus regulates many physiological functions and homeostatic loops, including growth, feeding and reproduction. In mammals, the hypothalamus derives from the ventral diencephalon where two distinct ventricular proliferative zones have been described. Although a set of transcription factors regulating the hypothalamic development has been identified, the exact molecular mechanisms that drive the differentiation of hypothalamic neural precursor cells (NPCs) toward specific neuroendocrine neuronal subtypes is yet not fully disclosed. Neurogenesis has been also reported in the adult hypothalamus at the level of specific niches located in the ventrolateral region of ventricle wall, where NPCs have been identified as radial glia-like tanycytes. Here we review the molecular and cellular systems proposed to support the neurogenic potential of developing and adult hypothalamic NPCs. We also report new insights on the mechanisms by which adult hypothalamic neurogenesis modulates key functions of this brain region. Finally, we discuss how environmental factors may modulate the adult hypothalamic neurogenic cascade.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Developmental Neuroendocrinology, Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano Milano, Italy ; Interuniversity Centre for the Research on the Molecular Bases of Reproductive Diseases (CIRMAR) Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maggi
authors.affiliation: Centre for Integrative Biology (CIBIO), Università degli Studi di Trento Povo, Italy.
authors.forename: Jacopo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zasso
authors.affiliation: Centre for Integrative Biology (CIBIO), Università degli Studi di Trento Povo, Italy.
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Conti
keywords: adult stem cells; hypothalamus; neural progenitor cells; neural stem cell (NSC); neurogenesis; tanycytes