REVIEW article
Front. Cell. Neurosci.
Sec. Cellular Neurophysiology
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fncel.2025.1608185
Sculptors of cerebellar fissures and their potential as therapeutic targets for cerebellar dysfunction
Provisionally accepted
- 1Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
- 2Columbia College, Columbia University, New York City, New York, United States
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The cerebellum plays an important role in both motor control and cognition. The cerebellar cortex is neuron-rich and composed of characteristic folia and fissures. Defective cerebellar development leads to movement disorders and developmental delay. During early morphogenesis, cellular signaling programs orchestrate simultaneous cerebellar growth and foliation. Aberrant signaling causes various degrees of cerebellar hypoplasia. Based on mouse genetic studies, we discuss several developmental signaling pathways that drive cerebellar morphogenesis. Notably, hypoplasia of vermal lobules VI-VII has been linked to autism spectrum disorder and is in part attributed to brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)/tropomyosin receptor kinase B signaling. This review also discusses how BDNF biogenesis is critical for cerebellar foliation and whether restoring BDNF signaling could reverse cerebellar developmental disorders.
Keywords: Cerebellar foliation, Cerebellar fissure, Cerebellar disorder, developmental signaling, BDNF
Received: 08 Apr 2025; Accepted: 22 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Shen, Tsai and Tarn. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Woan-Yuh Tarn, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, 115, Taiwan
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.