Migration patterns of clonally related granule cells and their progenitors in the developing chick cerebellum

During cerebellar development, granule neurons and their progenitors undergo complex migrations. To define these migratory paths better, we used replication-incompetent retroviruses to label dividing cells early in cerebellar development. Clonally related granule cells were widely dispersed in both rostrocaudal and mediolateral planes; clones often spanned the midline. The data suggest that granule cell progenitors originate from the ventricular zone along the entire mediolateral extent of the caudal edge of the cerebellum. After reaching the cerebellar surface, progenitors move primarily rostrally and proliferate in the superficial external granule layer. Postmitotic granule cells then migrate long distances medially and laterally in the transverse plane in the deep external granule layer, where previously they had been thought simply to extend transverse processes.