Skip to main content
Log in

New Calretinin-Positive Cells with Polymorphous Spines in the Mouse Forebrain during Early Postnatal Ontogeny

  • Published:
Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Immunohistochemical studies of calretinin (CR) in forebrain structures adjacent to the anterior horn of the lateral ventricle in adult mice allowed us to detect a population of previously unknown mono- and bipolar cells whose bodies and processes were coated with polymorphous spines (PS) (Morfologiya, 135, No. 3, 7–19 (2009)). CR-positive spiny (CR+PS) cells did not contain GAD67 and were located in the white matter and layers V–VI of the frontal area of the dorsomedial cortex close to the cingulum, the rostrodorsal part of the caudate-putamen, the anterior olfactory nucleus, and the subependyma of the dorsolateral angle of the lateral ventricle. We report here studies of the distribution of these cells in seven-day-old mice. Comparative topographic analysis of definitive and early CR+PS cells showed that in seven-day-old mice, CR+PS cells were absent from the sites at which they were seen in adults, i.e., the anterior olfactory cortex, the cortical plate, and the inner part of the neostriatum. In addition, small numbers of CR+PS-like cells were seen at this age within the dorsal migration pathway, at the anterior margin of the neostriatum, along the dorsal border of the neostriatum with the corpus callosum, in the subependymal layer of the lateral wall of the lateral ventricle, and in the cingulum area. These data demonstrate that CR+PS cells may have a postnatal origin. Experiments to verify this hypothesis were performed using postnatal administration of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) to mice aged 2–4 days, followed by assessment of brain sections fixed at age 20 days. Double immunolabeling of sections for CR and BrdU demonstrated the presence of CR+PS cells containing postnatally supplied BrdU. These data provide evidence that at least some CR+PS cells undergo mitosis at postnatal age. In all probability, during the period from 7 to 20 days of postnatal development, CR+PS cells migrate to the sites that they occupy in adult animals.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. O. S. Boyarshinova, A. V. Revishchin, I. I. Poltaeva, et al., “Neonatal administration of ACTH4-10 and its analog Semax to the offspring of laboratory mice modulates the number of catecholaminergic neurons in the diencephalon in adult animals,” Dokl. Ros. Akad. Nauk., 396, No. 1, 129–131 (2004).

    Google Scholar 

  2. A. V. Revishchin, V. E. Okhotin, L. I. Korochkin, et al., “A new population of calretinin-positive, presumptively neuronal, cells in mouse forebrain,” Morfologiya, 135, No. 3, 7–19 (2009).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. B. Cauli, E. Audinat, B. Lambolez, et al., “Molecular and physiological diversity of cortical nonpyramidal cells,” J. Neurosci., 17, 3894–3906 (1997).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. A. G. Dayer, K. M. Cleaver, T. Abouantom, et al., “New GABAergic interneurons in the adult neocortex and striatum are generated from different precursors,” J. Cell Biol., 168, 415–427 (2005).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. J. DeFelipe, “Types of neurons, synaptic connections and chemical characteristics of cells immunoreactive for calbindin-D28K, parvalbumin and calretinin in the neocortex,” J. Chem. Neuroanat., 14, 1–19 (1997).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Y. Gonchar and A. Burkhalter, “Three distinct families of GABAergic neurons in rat visual cortex,” Cereb. Cortex, 7, 347–358 (1997).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. A. Jankovski, C. Garcia, E. Soriano, et al., “Proliferation, migration and differentiation of neuronal progenitor cells in the adult mouse subventricular zone surgically separated from its olfactory bulb,” Eur. J. Neurosci., 10, 3853–3868 (1998).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. H. J. Lüth, I. Blümcke, E. Winkelmann, et al., “The calcium-binding protein calretinin is localized in a subset of interneurons in the rat cerebral cortex: a light and electron immunohistochemical study,” J. Hirnforsch., 34, 93–103 (1993).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. J. H. Rogers, “Calretinin: a gene for a novel calcium-binding protein expressed principally in neurons,” J. Cell Biol., 105, 1343–1353 (1987).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. X. Xu, K. D. Roby, and E. M. Callaway, “Mouse cortical inhibitory neuron type that coexpresses somatostatine and calretinine,” J. Comp. Neurol., 499, 144–160 (2006).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Z. Yang, Y. You, and S. V. Levison, “Neonatal hypoxic/ischemic brain injury induces production of calretinin-expressing interneurons in the striatum,” J. Comp. Neurol., 511, No. 1, 19–33 (2008).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to V. E. Okhotin.

Additional information

Translated from Morfologiya, Vol. 136, No. 6, pp. 20–27, November–December, 2009.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Revishchin, A.V., Okhotin, V.E. & Pavlova, G.V. New Calretinin-Positive Cells with Polymorphous Spines in the Mouse Forebrain during Early Postnatal Ontogeny. Neurosci Behav Physi 40, 833–840 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-010-9349-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-010-9349-6

Key words

Navigation