Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) are a unique glial population found in both the peripheral and central nervous system: they ensheath bundles of unmyelinated olfactory axons from their peripheral origin in the olfactory epithelium to their central synaptic targets in the glomerular layer of the olfactory bulb. Like all other peripheral glia (Schwann cells, satellite glia, enteric glia), OECs are derived from the embryonic neural crest. However, in contrast to Schwann cells, whose development has been extensively characterised, relatively little is known about their normal development in vivo. In the Schwann cell lineage, the transition from multipotent Schwann cell precursor to immature Schwann cell is promoted by canonical Notch signalling. Here, in situ hybridisation and immunohistochemistry data from chicken, mouse and human embryos are presented that suggest a canonical Notch-mediated transition also occurs during OEC development.S.R.M. was supported by a PhD research studentship from the Anatomical Society, with additional funding from the Cambridge Philosophical Society. S.P. was supported by the Wellcome Trust (PhD Studentship 102453/Z/13/Z) and the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust. C.B. was funded by Wellcome Trust Program grant 091119/Z/10/Z to Kristjan Jessen and Rhona Mirsky (University College London, London, UK). S.R.W.S. was supported by the European Union (DDPDGENES). Thanks to Perrine Barraud (University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK) for providing mouse cDNA, to Nicolas Daudet (University College London, London, UK) for providing chicken plasmids, and to Roger Barker (University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK) for his support in obtaining human foetal tissue.This is the author accepted manuscript. It is currently under an indefinite embargo pending publication by Wiley
