Olig2 Lineage Cells Generate GABAergic Neurons in the Prethalamic Nuclei, Including the Zona Incerta, Ventral Lateral Geniculate Nucleus and Reticular Thalamic Nucleus

Abstract

Neuronal differentiation is a crucial event during neural development. Recent studies have characterized the development of the diencephalon; however, the origins of the primarily GABAergic prethalamic nuclei, including the zona incerta (ZI), ventral lateral geniculate nucleus (vLG) and reticular thalamic nucleus (RT), remain unclear. Here we characterize Olig2 lineage cells in the developing prethalamus using mice in which tamoxifen-induced recombination permanently labels Olig2-expressing cells. We show that GABAergic neurons in the prethalamic nuclei, including the RT, ZI and vLG, originate from prethalamic Olig2 lineage cells. Based on these data and on those derived from short-term lineage-tracing data using Olig3-lacZ mice and previous reports, we suggest that vLG cells originate from the ventricular zone of the thalamus, zona limitans intrathalamica and prethalamus.