Figure 1.
Primary cortical and hippocampal neurons isolated from E14.5 and E16.5 mouse embryonic brains express Tgfβs and their receptors and are responsive to TGFβ treatment. (A) MLEC/PAI–luciferase assay with conditioned medium from DIV4 cortical and hippocampal cultures. Data as mean ± SEM (n = 3). (B) RT-PCR reveals that cortical and hippocampal neurons express Tgfβ receptors I and II, as well as Tgfβ isoforms 1, 2, and 3. (C) Hippocampal neurons activate Smad proteins upon TGFβ stimulation. Smad1/2/3 immunoreactivity in control untreated cells was localized diffusely in the cytoplasm, whereas TGFβ treatment caused a translocation of Smad proteins in the nucleus. Upper panels: DIV4, lower panels: DIV12. Scale bars = 50 μm.