Figure 4.

GABA_A and NMDA receptor antagonists prevent the BrdU-labeled cells from migrating to the stratum pyramidale in hippocampal organotypic slice culture. A, Immunostaining for BrdU on hippocampal organotypic slices cultured for 1 DIV without any treatment (control condition; left), in the presence of 10 μm MK801 (middle), and in the presence of 50 μm bicuculline (right). In the absence of any treatment, the majority of BrdU+ cells after 1 DIV has migrated to settle into the stratum pyramidale (s. pyr.). After 1 DIV, in the presence of MK801 or bicuculline, BrdU+ cells that have failed to migrate are mainly distributed into the migration area [i.e., neuroepithelium (ne)/stratum oriens (s. or.)]. Scale bar, 20 μm. B, Histogram showing the migration indices obtained after treatment for 1 DIV with 10 μm MK801 or 50 μm bicuculline compared with the untreated control condition. The migration indices are expressed (±SEM) as the ratio between the percentage of cells that reached the stratum pyramidale after 1 DIV and the percentage of cells that were still in the migration area (i.e., from the neuroepithelium to the stratum oriens), with the average of the control values being set to 10. ^**p < 0.001. The number of experiments is given in parentheses. CTRL, Control; BICU, bicuculline.