Blood vessels form a scaffold for neuroblast migration in the adult olfactory bulb.

ABSTRACT

New cells are continuously added to the rodent olfactory bulb (OB), throughout development and in adults. These cells migrate tangentially from the subventricular zone along the rostral migratory stream to the OB, where they migrate radically from the center to periphery of the OB. Although different modalities of radial migration have been described in other brain regions, the mechanisms governing radial migration in the OB are still mostly unknown. Here, we identify a new modality of migration in which neuronal precursors migrate along blood vessels toward their destination. Our results show that half of the radially migrating cells associate with the vasculature in the granule cell layer of the OB, and in vivo time-lapse imaging demonstrates that they use blood vessels as a scaffold for their migration through an interaction with the extracellular matrix and perivascular astrocyte end feet. The present data provide evidence that a new modality of migration, vasophilic migration, is occurring in the adult brain and reveals a novel role of brain vasculature.