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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Dec 1.
Published in final edited form as: J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2012 Dec;71(12):1047–1063. doi: 10.1097/NEN.0b013e318274a128

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Dystroglycan (DG) is expressed by radial glia during neurogenesis. In Dag1+/+ (WT) brains, Dag1 mRNA expression is weak and restricted to the ventricular zone (VZ) at E12.5 (A) and E15.5 (B) and is mostly in the VZ, but also sporadically in cortical plate cells, at E18.5 (C). Dag1 mRNA is expressed in Pax6-positive radial glia (RG) soma in the VZ at E15.5 (D, E), but not at the pial basement membrane (PBM) where β-dystroglycan protein (β-DG) is expressed (E, arrowheads). β-DG is restricted to the glia limitans at the outermost aspect of the basal cortex at P0.5 (F, arrowheads; higher magnification in G). At E18.5, β-DG colocalizes with RC2-positive RG endfeet (H,arrow). Using high-magnification confocal microscopy, α-dystroglycan protein (α-DG) consistently colocalizes with the laminin-positive basement membrane (BM) at E12.5 (I), E14.5 (J), E15.5 (K), and E18.5 (L). (M-X) In Dag1 conditional KO (DG−/−) brains, Dag1 mRNA is absent at E12.5 (M), E15.5 (N), and E18.5 (O) and is not expressed in Pax6-positive RG soma (P). β-DG protein expression is irregular at E15.5 (Q, arrowheads) and absent at P0.5 (R, higher magnification in S). At E18.5, β-DG is not expressed in RC2-positive RG endfeet (T, arrow). α-DG colocalizes with the BM at E12.5 (U). By E14.5, α-DG is nearly absent whereas the BM remains mostly intact (arrowheads) with only small disruptions (arrow) (V). α-DG is entirely absent and there is widespread disruption of the BM at E15.5 (W, arrowheads). At E18.5, only small fragments of the BM remain (X, arrowheads). VZ, ventricular zone; BM, basement membrane; BV, blood vessel; WT, Dag1+/+; DG −/−, Dag1 cKO. Scale bars: A, C, D, M, O, P, 25 µm; B, E, F, N, Q, R, 50 µm; G-L, S-X, 12.5 µm.