The Reelin Receptors Apoer2 and Vldlr Coordinate the Patterning of Purkinje Cell Topography in the Developing Mouse Cerebellum

The adult cerebellar cortex is comprised of reproducible arrays of transverse zones and parasagittal stripes of Purkinje cells. Adult stripes are created through the perinatal rostrocaudal dispersion of embryonic Purkinje cell clusters, triggered by signaling through the Reelin pathway. Reelin is secreted by neurons in the external granular layer and deep cerebellar nuclei and binds to two high affinity extracellular receptors on Purkinje cells-the Very low density lipoprotein receptor (Vldlr) and apolipoprotein E receptor 2 (Apoer2). In mice null for either Reelin or double null for Vldlr and Apoer2, Purkinje cell clusters fail to disperse. Here we report that animals null for either Vldlr or Apoer2 individually, exhibit specific and parasagittally-restricted Purkinje cell ectopias. For example, in mice lacking Apoer2 function immunostaining reveals ectopic Purkinje cells that are largely restricted to the zebrin II-immunonegative population of the anterior vermis. In contrast, mice null for Vldlr have a much larger population of ectopic Purkinje cells that includes members from both the zebrin II-immunonegative and -immunopositive phenotypes. HSP25 immunoreactivity reveals that in Vldlr null animals a large portion of zebrin II-immunopositive ectopic cells are probably destined to become stripes in the central zone (lobules VI–VII). A small population of ectopic zebrin II-immunonegative Purkinje cells is also observed in animals heterozygous for both receptors (Apoer2+/−: Vldlr+/−), but no ectopia is present in mice heterozygous for either receptor alone. These results indicate that Apoer2 and Vldlr coordinate the dispersal of distinct, but overlapping subsets of Purkinje cells in the developing cerebellum

Abnormal dispersion of a purkinje cell subset in the mouse mutant cerebellar deficient folia (cdf).

Purkinje cells of different molecular phenotypes subdivide the cortex of the cerebellum both rostrocaudally into parasagittal bands and mediolaterally into transverse zones. Superimposed on the Purkinje cell compartmentation, the cerebellar cortex is pleated into a reproducible array of lobes and lobules. During cerebellar development, Purkinje cell bands are formed through the rostrocaudal dispersal of embryonic clusters, triggered primarily by a Reelin-dependent signaling pathway. In the naturally occurring mouse mutant cerebellar deficient folia (cdf), there is a failure of Purkinje cell dispersion that results in widespread Purkinje cell ectopia in the adult. The ectopia is restricted primarily to that subset of Purkinje cells that does not express zebrin II/aldolase C and that forms ectopic clusters in among the cerebellar nuclei. Most Purkinje cells that express zebrin II are located normally in a monolayer. Thus, the cerebellum of cdf mutants has a failure of Purkinje cell dispersion that is confined primarily to a zebrin II-negative (zebrin II(-)) subpopulation. Despite the Purkinje cell ectopia, the parasagittal band organization of the cerebellum is still clear. The shortening of the cortex is distributed evenly over all lobules, with the result that transverse expression boundaries are relocated with respect to the lobules and fissures. The number of Purkinje cells in the cdf/cdf cerebellum is similar to the number in littermate controls. Therefore, it appears that the lesion in cdf results in the failure of a zebrin II(-) Purkinje cell subset to disperse either due to a cell intrinsic defect or due to an abnormal interaction between the Purkinje cells and either granule cells or afferent inputs