SMO-M2 mutation does not support cell-autonomous Hedgehog activity in cerebellar granule cell precursors
Growth and patterning of the cerebellum is compromised if granule cell precursors do not properly expand and migrate. During embryonic and postnatal cerebellar development, the Hedgehog pathway tightly regulates granule cell progenitors to coordinate appropriate foliation and lobule formation. Indeed, granule cells impairment or defects in the Hedgehog signaling are associated with developmental, neurodegenerative and neoplastic disorders. So far, scant and inefficient cellular models have been available to study granule cell progenitors, in vitro.