First Author | Kahn MA | Year | 1999 |
Journal | Glia | Volume | 26 |
Issue | 2 | Pages | 153-65 |
PubMed ID | 10384880 | Mgi Jnum | J:54402 |
Mgi Id | MGI:1335255 | Citation | Kahn MA, et al. (1999) Mice lacking NT-3, and its receptor TrkC, exhibit profound deficiencies in CNS glial cells. Glia 26(2):153-65 |
abstractText | Neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) and its receptor TrkC are known to be important for neuronal survival. More recently, NT-3 has been implicated as playing a role in oligodendrocyte (OL) proliferation and survival in vitro. Examination of NT-3 and TrkC knockout mice revealed a reduction in NT-3- dependent neurons. To date, no study has examined alterations in glial cell populations in these knockout mice. In this report, we demonstrate a decline in OL progenitor cell numbers within the CNS of NT-3 and TrkC knockout mice. We also observed that immature and mature OL-specific markers were attenuated in the NT-3 and TrkC knockout animals. Deficiencies in other CNS glial cells, including astrocytes and ameboid microglia, were also observed. The subventricular zone (SVZ), a highly proliferative region for progenitor glial cells, was reduced in size. Furthermore, a nuclear-specific stain revealed a decline in the numbers of pyknotic nuclei in and around the SVZ of the knockout mice. These data will support an in vivo NT-3-dependent mechanism for the normal development of CNS glial cells. GLIA 26:153-165, 1999. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc. |