Figure 8.

ERK2 CKO cortical progenitors generate more astrocytes in the presence of gliogenic stimuli. Cortical progenitor cell cultures from ERK2 CKO and wild-type E14.5 embryos were grown in Neurobasal media. Twelve hours after plating, cells were treated with CNTF to induce astrocyte differentiation. Cells were fixed and immunostained with anti-vimentin (A), anti-GFAP (B), and anti-S100β (C) antibodies after 2 d in vitro (1, 2) and 4 d in vitro (3, 4). D–F, Analysis of cellular identity with CNTF treatment. Fold difference in astrocyte generation was measured by the average of marker immunopositive cells/total cell number relative to wild-type at 2 DIV and 4 DIV (n = 4 for each). Two-way ANOVA, p < 0.0001 with Bonferroni's post hoc tests, p < 0.0001 for each. **p < 0.001; ***p < 0.0001.