Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Jun 1.
Published in final edited form as: Cancer Metastasis Rev. 2013 Jun;32(0):5–24. doi: 10.1007/s10555-012-9407-3

Figure 1. Cells involved in normal brain development from embryo to adult.

Figure 1

The schematic figure shows regions and cells of origin for glioma (in forebrain, above) and MB (in cerebellum, below). Processes of the radial glia (RG) serve as guides for migrating more immature neurons [196,197]. RG born from neuroepithelial stem cells could give rise to basically all other cell types including ependymal cells that line the ventricles. However, they first give rise to more restricted intermediate progenitors that determine the path for astrocytes (protoplasmic (in GM) or fibrous (in WM)), oligodendrocytes and neurons. Radial glia cells form neural stem cells, specifically called type B cells (SVZ astrocytes) that reside in the subventricular zone (SVZ) even in the adult forebrain [12]. Similar adult neural stem cells also exist in the dentate gyrus granule cell layer in the hippocampus [13]. Radial glia form neural stem cells that can give rise to multiple cerebellar cell types, and also more directly (around birth) convert into Bergmann glia that keep their extended processes even in adult brain. In cerebellum, granule precursor cells are also formed and divide in the external germinal layer (EGL) from the boost of SHH-producing large Purkinje neurons. Before the cerebellar EGL layer disappears (around three weeks of age in mice) the GPCs that constitute EGL migrate down the Bergmann glial processes and pass Purkinje neurons before they settle down as more differentiated granule neurons in the IGL. GM: Grey matter; WM: White matter; NSC: Neuroepithelial stem cell; ORG: Outer SVZ radial glia-like cells; VRG: ventricular epithelium radial glia; OPC: Oligodendrocyte precursor cell; SVZ: Subventricular zone; SGZ: Subgranular zone; VZ; Ventricular zone at 4th ventricle; RL: Rhombic lip; EGL: External germinal layer; GPC: Granule cell progenitor; ML: Molecular layer; PL: Purkinje cell layer; IGL: Internal granular layer. Examples of markers that are expressed, or not expressed, in the various cell types are shown followed by + or −, respectively.