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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2008 Aug 2.
Published in final edited form as: Neuron. 2007 Aug 2;55(3):417–433. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2007.06.036

Figure 1. Molecular characterization of medial ganglionic eminence progenitors.

Figure 1

(A–B) E12.5 coronal section through mouse forebrain showing DLX2 (red), OLIG2 (green) and MASH1 (blue) as visualized by indirect immunofluorescence at the level of the MGE and LGE. (A′–B′) Higher magnification view of the ventromedial MGE, boxed region in (A–B), with the VZ, SVZ1 and SVZ2 labeled. (C) Graphical illustration of the percent contribution of DLX2, OLIG2, and MASH1 expressing cells in the VZ, SVZ1 and SVZ2 determined from (A′) and (B′). Four main colors in the graph represent population of cells that express either OLIG2 (green), DLX2 (red), OLIG2 and DLX2 (yellow) and MASH1 (blue). Shaded portion of the colored bars represent subpopulations within the groups that co-express MASH1.

(A′, C) OLIG2 expression is high in the MGE, where nearly all VZ cells are OLIG2+, and lower in the LGE. DLX2 expression is high in both the LGE and MGE. DLX2 is expressed in ~50% of cells in VZ of the MGE, where it is largely co-expressed with OLIG2. DLX2 expression increases to ~90% of cells in the SVZ, while OLIG2 expression progressively decreases to ~50% in SVZ1 and ~20% in SVZ2. OLIG2+/DLX2+ population declines to less than 10% of cells in the SVZ2. Thus, there is a reciprocal relationship between OLIG2 and DLX2 expression as cells migrate from the VZ to SVZ2, and begin to differentiate. (B′–C) Most MASH1+ cells express DLX2 in the VZ and SVZ of the ventromedial MGE. Note the two main populations of cells in the VZ: OLIG2+/DLX2+/MASH1+ and OLIG2-only. These populations combined decrease to less than 20% of cells in the SVZ2, as the proportion of DLX2+ cells increases. Also, proportion of DLX2+ cells expressing MASH1 declines to ~60% in the SVZ1 and ~35% in the SVZ2.