Postnatal neurogenesis: from neuroblast migration to neuronal integration

Abstract

Ongoing neurogenesis maintains neuronal replacement in a few regions of the mammalian adult brain. One of these regions, the subventricular zone, generates olfactory bulb interneuron precursors that must migrate through the rostral migratory stream to reach the olfactory bulb circuit. There, they rapidly initiate dendritic growth and establish dendro-dendritic contacts with mitral/tufted cells and potentially other local interneurons. The sequential steps involved in neuroblast maturation during development have been studied extensively over previous years. However, the mechanisms and regulatory factors controlling the recruitment and first steps of synaptic integration of newly-formed neurons in the adult forebrain have only recently started to be elucidated. This review provides an integrated view of our current understanding of fate-choice decision in progenitors, how newborn neurons correctly migrate to specific circuits, how they integrate in olfactory bulb microcircuits, and the function they have to fulfill once they survive. The elucidation of these mechanisms may be crucial to understand the functional role of adult neurogenesis and eventually develop therapeutic strategies aimed at re-routing neuroblasts to altered circuits.