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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Jul 16.
Published in final edited form as: Cell. 1994 Mar 25;76(6):989–999. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(94)90377-8

Table 5.

Analysis of the Brain of BDNFneo Mutants

Brain Structure Staining N Resulta Remarks
Cerebellum Nissl 5 Normal Delayed granule cell migrationb (Figure 4B)
Calbindin 3 Normal Normal Purkinje cell morphology (see Figure 4E)
Parvalbumin 3 Normal
PEP-19 4 Normal
Substantia nigra TH 6 Normal See Figures 4F and 4G
Calbindin 3 Reduced Innervating fibers from striatum (see striatum)
Parvalbumin 3 Reduced Slight reduction in cells stained
Striatum GABA 3 Normal Medium-sized spiny neurons
ChAT 6 Normal Interneurons
TrkA 5 Normal Interneurons
TH 6 Normal Innervating fibers from substantia nigra
NPY 3 Normal Neurons and fibers
Calbindin 3 Reduced Substantially reduced (see Figures 6H and 6I)
PEP-19 3 Normal Most neurons stained
Basal forebrain ChAT 6 Normal See Figures 4H and 4I
TrkA 4 Normal
LNGFR 5 Normal
Hippocampal formation Nissl 5 Normal
GABA 3 Normal Interneurons
ChAT 6 Normal Innervating fibers from basal forebrain
NPY 3 Reduced Interneurons (Figures 5C and 5D; see cerebral cortex)
Catbindin 3 Reduced Interneurons (see cerebral cortex)
Parvalbumin 3 Reduced Interneurons (Figures 6D–6G; see cerebral cortex)
PEP-19 3 Normal
Cerebral cortex Nissl 5 All layers Reduction in thicknessb
GABA 3 Normal Interneurons
NPY 3 Reduced 65% ± 10% (see Figures 5A and 5B)c
Calbindin 3 Reduced 83% ± 13%c
Parvalbumin 3 Reduced 50% ± 11% (see Figures 6A–6C)c
PEP-19 3 Normal

Brain structures containing neuronal populations reported to be affected by BDNF or to express its receptor, TrkB. The table shows the results obtained for P15–P20 animals after conventional staining with cresyl violet (Nissl) or immunocytochemical staining using antibodies to ChAT, GABA, TH, NPY, calbindin, parvalbumin, PEP-19, TrkA, and pZSLNGFR (LNGFR). The number of animals analyzed is indicated (N). An equal number of age-matched wild-type littermates, processed at the same times, served as controls.

a

Normal means normal histological appearance in Nissl-stained sections or apparently normal presence and labeling intensity of immunoreactive neurons, fibers, or both. Reduced means that a reduction was readily apparent by eye examination.

b

Possible nutritional deficits also involved.

c

To document reductions in staining intensity further, immunoreactive neurons in the cerebral cortex and hippocampal formation were counted in equivalent sections from wild-type and mutant animals. The percentage of positive cells found in mutant compared with wild-type brains is shown (mean ± SEM).