Figure 2.
Lack of NRG impairs radial glial cell generation. Explant cultures of telencephalon from E9.5 WT and NRG−/− mice were immunolabeled with RC2 (a and c) or TuJ-1 (e and f) antibodies. Compared with WT (a and b), significantly fewer RC2-positive cells were generated from NRG−/− explants (c, d, and g). Bis benzimide nuclear counterstain (b and d) indicates that deficiency in RC2+ cells in NRG−/− explants is not caused by general lack of cell generation. Neuronal generation was not affected in NRG−/− explants (e, WT; f, −/−; and g). (g) Number of radial glial or neuronal cells per total number of cells was calculated for each explant and used as cell index. Results from NRG−/− mice were normalized to measurements from littermate WT controls. Data shown are mean ± SEM; *, P < 0.01, Student's t test. (Scale bar: 60 μm.)