Figure 3. PTBP2 is required for postnatal cortical development.
(A) Ptbp2 EmxKO mutants display slow growth (shown at P11) and die around weaning. (B) Immunoblot for PTBP2 at P21 confirms that its expression is largely eliminated in cortex, but remains unchanged in other structures such as brain stem. (C) Postnatal development of the cortex was disrupted in EmxKO mice. Mutant cortical tissue failed to thicken as in wild type and degenerated. Scale bar = 1 cm. (D) Nissl stained coronal sections of control and EmxKO brain at P5 showing loss of cell density and degeneration. Enlarged panels show a loss of nuclei in the EmxKO tissue. (E) Coronal sections at P11, similar to (D). Scale bars in D and E indicate 0.5 mm. Staining was done on at least four knockout mice and four wild-type littermate controls from two litters.