Continuity with ganglionic eminence modulates interkinetic nuclear migration in the neocortical pseudostratified ventricular epithelium

Cells of the pseudostratified ventricular epithelium (PVE) undergo interkinetic nuclear migration whereby position of cell soma with nucleus is systematically dependent upon cell cycle phase. We examined if the interkinetic nuclear migration in the neopallial PVE is influenced by tissue continuity with the ganglionic eminence (GE) of the basal forebrain in explants from embryonic day 13 mice. We found that when continuity between the neopallial wall and the GE is intact, some neopallial PVE cells discontinue interkinetic nuclear migration following S-phase and upon entry into G2-phase. The somata and nuclei of those cells shift outward from the S-phase zone toward the subventricular and the intermediate zones. The outward migration of post-S-phase cells is observed only in the lateral region of the cerebral wall, which is closely adjacent to the GE, but not in the medial region, and only when tissue continuity with GE is maintained. We suggest that the outward moving PVE cells seed the secondary proliferative population (SPP) and that exit of the SPP seeding cells occurs in G2-phase. The phenomenon recapitulates similar migratory behavior of neopallial PVE cells in vivo and appears to represent a "choice" between two opposing options available to post-S-phase cells of the PVE. The choice appears to be imposed by mechanisms dependent upon continuity with the GE. We conclude that GE, and/or other adjacent basal forebrain structures, modulates interkinetic nuclear migration in the neopallial PVE.