Fig. 2. Neural stem cells and neural progenitors are severely compromised in the dentate gyrus of MNK mice. (A) NESTIN and SOX2 immunostainings were used to identify neural stem cells in the brain of P13 wild type and MNK mice. Neural stem cells in the dentate gyrus were significantly reduced in the brain of P13 MNK mice compared with wild type. White arrowheads of high magnification image indicate neural stem cells stained by NESTIN or SOX2 respectively. Number of NESTIN＋, SOX2＋ NSCs per 100 μm of SGZ were significantly reduced in the MNK mice compared to control. Scale bar 50 μm and 10 μm (high magnification). (B) Coronal sections of P13 mouse brains were stained with neural progenitor cell marker doublecortin (DCX, Green) and Prospero homeobox protein 1 (PROX1, Red). DCX＋ and PROX1＋ neural progenitor cells were reduced respectively in GCL. Furthermore, number of DCX＋, PROX1＋ cells were also significantly reduced by 63% per 100 μm of the GCL and SGZ of MNK mice compared to control. **p<0.001, n=4 each, by t-test. (C) Coronal sections of P13 mouse brains were stained with neuronal marker NeuN and mature neuron maker Calbindin. Number of NeuN＋, Calbindin＋ mature neurons were significantly decreased by 55% in MNK mice compared with wild type per 100 μm of the upper GCL region of the dentate gyrus. The White box indicates regions shown in high magnification. Scale bar 50 μm. SGZ, subgranular zone; GCL, granule cell layer; ML, molecular layer. *p<0.05, n=4 each, by t-test. **p<0.001, n=4 each, by t-test.

International Journal of Stem Cells 2022;15:270-82 https://doi.org/10.15283/ijsc21088

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