Figure 1.

Presence of precursor cells in the basolateral amygdala (BLA). (a) The BLA was microdissected from 500 μm thick coronal brain slices. (b) Photomicrograph of a neurosphere obtained in control medium versus medium containing 15 mm KCl. (c) Similar numbers of BLA-derived neurospheres per brain were obtained in control, norepinephrine- (10 μm, NE) and KCl-treated wells (n=9). (d) Distribution of neurospheres based on their size in control, NE and KCl conditions. Note the significant increase in the number of neurospheres measuring >200 μm in the NE and KCl treatment conditions compared with the control (n=9, *P<0.05, ****P<0.0001). (e) The majority of neurospheres generated from the BLA are derived from Ascl1-expressing precursor cells (Ascl1::tdTom+) labeled using Ascl1^CreERT2; CAG^{floxStop-tdTomato} mice. (f) Examples of BLA-derived Ascl1::tdTom+ and tdTom− neurospheres. Scale bars, 100 μm.