Skip to main content
. 2009 May 27;29(21):7079–7091. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0957-09.2009

Figure 2.

Figure 2.

Birth-dating and laminar distribution of endogenous and transplanted GABAergic interneurons. a–c, BrdU-positive cells labeled with type-specific markers used to identify mature cerebellar GABAergic interneurons (pictures taken from wild-type rat cerebella): neurogranin (NG) (red in a) and calretinin (CR) (red in b) for Golgi and Lugaro cells of the granular layer (GL), parvalbumin (PV) (red in c) for basket and stellate cells in the molecular layer (ML). d shows the different laminar positions of strong (arrowheads) and faint (arrows) BrdU-immunoreactive interneurons in the ML of a P30 Gad67-GFP mouse (BrdU was injected at P5). The graphs in e show the laminar position of rat interneurons that incorporated BrdU injected at E15, P1, and P7 (two pulses within 8 h for each time point; n = 2–4 cases/time points; all animals were killed at P30). Note the inside-out positional gradient of interneuron generation (one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni's multiple comparisons test on the position of interneurons born at the three examined ages: p < 0.0001). To analyze the laminar fate of transplanted interneurons, we performed the experiments sketched in f; cerebellar cells from E14, P1, and P7 rat β-actin-GFP donors were grafted to either age-matched or heterochronic wild-type rat recipients, which were killed 1 month post-transplantation. For each condition, represented by an arrow linking donor to host, the total number of transplanted interneurons considered and the number of examined cases are indicated. g–i, Scatter graphs illustrating the distribution of transplanted interneurons in the recipient cortex. Regardless of the donor age, the position of transplanted interneurons is always strictly dependent on the host age. In addition, the laminar fate of donor cells corresponds to that of host interneurons born on the day of transplantation (compare g–i with e; one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni's multiple comparisons on the layering positions of cells grafted in E15, P1, and P7 hosts and those of local GABAergic interneurons born on the same day: p > 0.05). j–l, Interneurons generated by P7 rat β-actin-GFP donors in E15 (j), P1 (k), and P7 (l) wild-type rat recipients: note the host-specific position and phenotypes acquired by transplanted cells 1 month after transplantation in cerebella of different ages. PCL, Purkinje cell layer. Scale bars: (a,b,c), 10 μm; (j-l), 50 μm.