Figure 1

The 473HD epitope is expressed by neural precursor cells during embryonic mouse spinal cord development. (A) Schematic drawing of frontal E13.5 spinal cord sections, illustrating the spinal cord region shown in B-D. (B-D) Photomicrographs of frontal spinal cord sections stained against the 473HD- epitope and the NPC marker Nestin, showing the colocalization of the 473HD- epitope with Nestin-positive NPC processes around the central canal. (E-H) Photomicrographs of acutely dissociated spinal cord cells stained against the 473HD-epitope in combination with either the NPC markers Nestin, BLBP and GLAST or the neuronal marker βIII-Tubulin. The 473HD-epitope was exclusively expressed by NPCs. In contrast, we never observed any neuronal expression of the 473HD-epitope. (I) Quantification of double immunopositive cells. At E13.5, the percentage of 473HD-positive cells that also expressed one of the NPC markers was relatively low. The relative amount of 473HD-and-Nestin-positive cells peaked at E15.5. In contrast the 473HD-and-BLBP-positive and the 473HD-and-GLAST-positive populations gradually increased towards the end of embryogenesis. (J) Quantification of 473HD-positive cells throughout embryonic spinal cord development, showing the gradual increase of 473HD-positive cells between E12.5 and E18.5. To visualize the nuclei, the cells were counterstained with Hoechst 33528. Scale bar: 50 μm (B-D), 25 μm (E-H).