Newly born astrocytes and neural stem cells

Newly born astrocytes and neural stem cells in the adult rat brain.

Proliferation of neural stem cells in the adult rat brain has been documented in only two regions. These figures illustrate one such region, the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricles, which produces a continuous stream of new neurons for the olfactory bulbs. Here, dividing stem cells in the adult rat brain were labeled in situ by injecting the animal with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), a thymidine-analog incorporated into the DNA of dividing cells. Following sacrifice, coronal sections from the forebrain were either double- (left) or triple- (right) immunostained to visualize BrdU (red), as well as nestin (a neural stem cell marker, green) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (an astrocyte marker, blue). Confocal microscope images were collected sequentially, from a single optical plane, and then merged. Scale bar = 20 µm.