Glial development articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    During development, astrocytes are generated from radial glia, and migrate to the cortical plate, but the process of astrocyte migration during development is not fully understood. Here the authors labelled cells derived from the cortical ventricular zone in the late stages of cortical plate development in mice, and identified a migration mode in which cells move rapidly and almost at random within the intermediate zone and the cortical plate.

    • Hidenori Tabata
    • , Megumi Sasaki
    •  & Kazunori Nakajima

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The oligodendrocyte lineage is known for its transcriptional heterogeneity, but the functional consequences of this are unclear. Here, the authors show that distinct populations of mature oligodendrocytes have spatial preferences in the brain and spinal cord and show different responses to spinal cord injury.

    • Elisa M. Floriddia
    • , Tânia Lourenço
    •  & Gonçalo Castelo-Branco

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Previous studies on astrocyte development have led to controversial results due to a lack of pertinent tools. Here, authors analyze large numbers of astrocyte clones generated by nearby cortical progenitors using the MAGIC Markers strategy and ChroMS 3D imaging, and show that clonally-related astrocytes organize in a non-stereotyped manner and that cortical astrocyte subtypes are not intrinsically specified.

    • Solène Clavreul
    • , Lamiae Abdeladim
    •  & Karine Loulier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The fundamental mechanism of how sensory axons traverse a spinal cord glia limitans remains debatable, with some suggesting a role for boundary cap cells at the dorsal root entry zone (DREZ). Here, authors use time-lapse imaging of DRG axons at the DREZ to show that pioneer axons enter the DREZ before the presence of boundary cap cells, and that this entry is critically dependent on the development of actin-rich invasion structures reminiscent of invadopodia.

    • Ev L. Nichols
    •  & Cody J. Smith

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inflammation mediated by microglia plays a key role in brain injury associated with preterm birth, but little is known about the microglial response in preterm infants. Here, the authors integrate molecular and imaging data from animal models and preterm infants, and find that microglial expression of DLG4 plays a role.

    • Michelle L. Krishnan
    • , Juliette Van Steenwinckel
    •  & Pierre Gressens

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Hippo pathway has recently been implicated in Schwann cell (SC) development and myelination. Here the authors reveal mechanistic insights into how TAZ and YAP regulate and interact with target genes; they further identify a negative feedback loop between TAZ/YAP and G protein Gαs that balances SC proliferation and differentiation.

    • Yaqi Deng
    • , Lai Man Natalie Wu
    •  & Q. Richard Lu

  • Article |

    Phagocytic glia can internalize protein aggregates in vitro. Here Pearce et al. show in Drosophila that glia clear mutant huntingtin (Htt) aggregates in a scavenger receptor Draper-dependent manner in vivo, and that internalized Htt aggregates induce the prion-like conversion of wild-type Htt expressed in the glial cytoplasm.

    • Margaret M. P. Pearce
    • , Ellen J. Spartz
    •  & Ron R. Kopito

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Amplification of neural progenitor cells mediates expansion of brain regions. Using imaging of progenitor cell amplification in the mouse ventral forebrain, the authors identify a new progenitor type with high frequency, which they also show to be present in expanded brain regions of other species.

    • Gregor-Alexander Pilz
    • , Atsunori Shitamukai
    •  & Magdalena Götz

  • Article |

    Human neocortex expansion is partly due to neuronal production by outer radial glial cells. In the developing human cortex, LaMonica et al. find that horizontal divisions of ventricular radial glial cells produce outer radial glial cells displaying cell-intrinsic regulation of mitosis and spindle orientation.

    • Bridget E. LaMonica
    • , Jan H. Lui
    •  & Arnold R. Kriegstein

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