Figure 3. Inter-cellular cross talk in the niche.
Neuronal activity may recruit multiple modes of signaling to coordinate activity of diverse niche actors and NSCs. a. Parallel mode: A single niche derived signal (light blue) may act simultaneously on cognate receptors present on astrocytes (green), microglia (orange), endothelial cells (red) and NSCs (pink). b. One-on-one mode: NSCs may receive a signal from only one cell-type. c. Sequential mode: This mode invokes communication across a cascade of niche actors such that signals are sequentially transmitted to ultimately reach NSCs. See text for details.