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p75NTR in the Developing Cerebellum

The p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) is highly expressed in proliferating progenitor cells in the developing brain.  In the cerebellum, p75NTR (green) is present in all proliferating (red) granule cell progenitors.

We have demonstrated that this receptor regulates the duration of the cell cycle of these progenitors.  We continue to study the mechanisms by which this receptor regulates the cell cycle, and the consequences of its absence for brain development and function.

See our recent papers on this topic:

Zanin, J.P., J. Verpeut, Li, Y., Shiflett, M.W., S.-S. Wang, Santhakumar, V., and W.J. Friedman, The p75NTR influences cerebellar circuit development and adult behavior via regulation of cell cycle duration of granule cell progenitors, J. Neurosci. 39 (46) 9119-9129; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0990-19.2019, 2019, Cover Article

Zanin, J.P. and W.J. Friedman, p75NTR prevents the onset of cerebellar granule cell migration via RhoA activation, eLife, https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.79934, 2022

Zanin, J.P., M.A. Pandya, D. Espinoza, W.J. Friedman, and M.W. Shiflett, Excess cerebellar granule neurons induced by the absence of p75NTR during development elicit social behavior deficits in mice, Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, Volume 16, https://doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2023.1147597, 2023

p75NTR in the Rat Subventricular Zone (SVZ)

p75NTR is expressed in a subpopulation of progenitor cells in the rat (not mouse) SVZ.  These are proliferating progenitors, and our project is to investigate the role of this receptor in their development.  Our ongoing study suggests that this receptor influences glial development.

See our recent publication

Joshi, S., M.J. Frondelli, J.P. Zanin, S.W. Levison and W.J. Friedman, Oligodendrocyte progenitor development from the postnatal rat subventricular zone is regulated by the p75 neurotrophin receptor, Glia, 71:2383–2400. https://doi.org/10.1002/glia.24430, 2023