Figure 8.

Effect of Reelin from INs on adult neurogenesis. Potential effects on adult neurogenesis were analyzed using BrdU to label newborn granule cells, as well as IHC for Ki-67 (proliferation) and Doublecortin (immature neurons). (A) Application scheme for BrdU in two independent experiments. Visualization (B) and quantification of BrdU-positive cells (C) and Doublecortin-positive cells (D) in slices from septal, middle, and temporal areas of the HC for the single-injection protocol. Only cells within the SGZ and granule cell layer were counted, and cell counts were normalized to the underlying length of the proliferative zone (SGZ) by giving the numbers as “cells per mm SGZ.” Only counts for Doublecortin-positive immature neurons in middle areas of the HC revealed a significant reduction (t-test; N = 5; age: 15 weeks; error: ±SEM) (D). (E) Additional experiments regarding either proliferation (Ki-67 staining and quantification) or neurogenesis (DCX and BrdU quantification for the 14 day BrdU protocol) showed a reduction of about 10% in cell numbers in the IN-specific Reelin knockout mouse, but these differences were not statistically significant. (F) In addition, filament length, orientation, and branching of Doublecortin-positive neurons were not affected in IN-specific knockout mice (t-test; N = 10 cells from five animals; age: 15 weeks; error: ±SEM).