The ability of the mature mammalian nervous system to continually produce neuronal precursors is of considerable importance, as manipulation of this process might one day permit the replacement of cells lost as a result of injury or disease. In mammals, the anterior subventricular zone (SVZa) region is one of the primary sites of adult neurogenesis. Here we show that Doublecortin (DCX), a widely used marker for newly generated neurons, when deleted in mouse results in a severe morphological defect in the rostral migratory stream and delayed neuronal migration that is independent of direction or responsiveness to Slit chemorepulsion. DCX is required for nuclear translocation and maintenance of bipolar morphology during migration of these cells. Our data identifies a critical function for DCX in the movement of newly generated neurons in the adult brain.In the rodent and primate brain, the anterior region of the lateral ventricle and the hippocampus are the primary sites of adult neurogenesis [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] . These neuroblasts, upon completing migration, are capable of maturing into fully differentiated neurons, integrating into local synaptic circuits and may be important in adult cognitive processing [8][9][10][11] .The mechanisms controlling the targeted translocation of large numbers of cells to the olfactory bulb (OB) over a considerable distance (>5 mm in the adult mouse) are an issue of intense investigation. These neurons translocate using a process known as chain migration, whereby the cells use each other as the migratory substrate 12 . These newly generated neurons are derived from SVZa glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive astrocytes 13,14 , which also ensheath them as they move through extensive interconnected networks along the lining of the lateral ventricle in the rostral forebrain and the rostral migratory stream (RMS) 15 . There, they are under the control of extracellular migration guidance cues, including the secreted ligands Slit and Reelin [16][17][18][19] , the receptors ErbB4 and Deleted in Colorectal Carcinoma (DCC) 20,21 , as well as integrins and neural cell adhesion molecule [21][22][23] . Upon reaching the bulb, the neurons turn and migrate in a radial direction 24 , integrating into either the granule cell layer or the periglomerular network 25 .
3The X-linked gene doublecortin (DCX) is mutated in some patients with the severe neuronal migration defect called classical lissencephaly or double cortex syndrome 26,27 . This migration defect is likely to be cell autonomous, because in females with a heterozygous mutation, approximately half of the neurons are misplaced within the cerebral cortex as would be expected from random X-chromosome inactivation. As a result, males display a four-layered agyric cortex and females display a subcortical band of heterotopic neurons. It was surprising, therefore, that the Dcx knockout mice displayed no appreciable defect in cortical neuronal lamination or positioning 28 . One possible explanation for these species differences ...