Different Neurogenic Potential in the Subnuclei of the Postnatal Rat Cochlear Nucleus

Figure 9

Propagated single cells of all CN subnuclei express neural stem cell markers. Analysis of the distribution of neural stem cell markers of single-cell cultures of CN subnuclei—obtained from neurosphere cultures over 4 weeks. The graphs show the proportions of cells positively marked after 24 h. The β-tubulin-positive cells were evaluated as absolute cell numbers. (a) Atoh-1 was stained positively on average in 50–82% of the grown single cells of AVCN, PVCN, and DCN (; mean). There were no significant differences between the subnuclei. (b) On average, 6% of the single cells of the AVCN, 28% of the PVCN, and 74% of the DCN were labeled Sox-2-positive (). The expression of this transcription factor was shown most frequently in dissociated cells of the DCN cultures. (c) The progenitor cell marker doublecortin (DCX) was expressed on average from 54–58% of the plated single cells—without significant differences among the subnuclei (). (d) The neural stem cell marker nestin was expressed on average by 58% of the plated single cells of the AVCN, by 84% of the PVCN, and by 37% of the DCN. The PVCN significantly showed the highest proportion of positively labeled single cells (). Box plots show the median with the upper and lower quartiles, and whiskers mark the upper and lower maximum values; asterisks indicate the significance level: , , , and .

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