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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Sep 22.
Published in final edited form as: Neuron. 2011 Sep 21;71(6):995–1013. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.07.026

Figure 2.

Figure 2

The Nkx2.1-CreER driver captures MGE progenitors.

(A) A schematic of the ventricular (VZ) and subventricular (SVZ) zones of ganglionic eminence at mid-gestation and a summary of transcription factor expression in these regions. (B) GFP expression in an Nkx2.1-CreER::RCE-LoxP brain 1day after induced at E12. MGE progenitors and postmitotic GABA neurons are labeled by GFP; progenitors were colabeled by an NKX2.1 antibody (red) in VZ (arrow). Postmitotic neurons were migrating towards cortex and striatum (Str). (C) High dose tamoxifen induction at E12 labeled many MGE progenitors (colabeled by an NKX2.1 antibody in red) and postmitotic neurons. (D) Low dose tamoxifen induction at E12 labeled sparser MGE progenitors, which showed radial clone-like organization (arrows) in VZ (colabeled by an NKX2.1 antibody). (E) A schematic of NKX2.1 expression in the ventral portion of late embryonic SVZ. (F, G) E17 NKX2.1+ cells (red) in the ventral SVZ were colabeled by a BrdU antibody (green), suggesting that they were mitotic. Four pulses of BrdU were administered every 4 hours at E17. (H, I) MGE progenitors labeled at E12 (green) contributed to NKX2.1+ cells (red) in E17 SVZ. (J-L) NKX2.1 progenitors labeled at E13 gave rise to major types of cortical interneurons including PV (J) and SST (K) cells but not VIP cells (L) at P31. Scale bars: 300 μm in B, 100 μm in C, D, I, 50 μm in F, G, 500 μm in H, 50 μm in J-L, 25 μm in insets of J, K.