A novel feature of the ancient organ: A possible involvement of the subcommissural organ in neurogenic/gliogenic potential in the adult brain

Hitoshi Inada; Laarni Grace Corales; Noriko Osumi

doi:10.3389/fnins.2023.1141913

A novel feature of the ancient organ: A possible involvement of the subcommissural organ in neurogenic/gliogenic potential in the adult brain

Front Neurosci. 2023 Mar 7:17:1141913. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1141913. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Hitoshi Inada^{1

2}, Laarni Grace Corales², Noriko Osumi²

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Health and Sports Sciences, Division of Biomedical Engineering for Health and Welfare, Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
² Department of Developmental Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.

Abstract

The subcommissural organ (SCO) is a circumventricular organ highly conserved in vertebrates from Cyclostomata such as lamprey to mammals including human. The SCO locates in the boundary between the third ventricle and the entrance of the aqueduct of Sylvius. The SCO functions as a secretory organ producing a variety of proteins such as SCO-spondin, transthyretin, and basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF) into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). A significant contribution of the SCO has been thought to maintain the homeostasis of CSF dynamics. However, evidence has shown a possible role of SCO on neurogenesis in the adult brain. This review highlights specific features of the SCO related to adult neurogenesis, suggested by the progress of understanding SCO functions. We begin with a brief history of the SCO discovery and continue to structural features, gene expression, and a possible role in adult neurogenesis suggested by the SCO transplant experiment.

Keywords: Pax6; Sox2; neural stem progenitor cell; neurogenesis; subcommissural organ.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (17K08486) and (B) (19H03318) to HI and NO, respectively, from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (MEXT).