Doublecortin expression levels in adult brain reflect neurogenesis.

• Progress in the field of neurogenesis is currently limited by the lack of tools enabling fast and quantitative analysis of neurogenesis in the adult brain. Doublecortin (DCX) has recently been used as a marker for neurogenesis. However, it was not clear whether DCX could be used to assess modulations occurring in the rate of neurogenesis in the adult mammalian central nervous system following lesioning or stimulatory factors. Using two paradigms increasing neurogenesis levels (physical activity and epileptic seizures), we demonstrate that quantification of DCX-expressing cells allows for an accurate measurement of modulations in the rate of adult neurogenesis. Importantly, we excluded induction of DCX expression during physiological or reactive gliogenesis and excluded also DCX re-expression during regenerative axonal growth. Our data validate DCX as a reliable and specific marker that reflects levels of adult neurogenesis and its modulation. We demonstrate that DCX is a valuable alternative to techniques currently used to measure the levels of neurogenesis. Importantly, in contrast to conventional techniques, analysis of neurogenesis through the detection of DCX does not require in vivo labelling of proliferating cells, thereby opening new avenues for the study of human neurogenesis under normal and pathological conditions.

Keyword

Animals

Animals

Newborn

Behavior

Animal

Brain

cytology

metabolism

Bromodeoxyuridine

metabolism

Cell Count

Cell Differentiation

physiology

Cell Proliferation

Cell Size

Cells

Cultured

Female

GAP-43 Protein

metabolism

Ganglia

Spinal

Gene Expression Regulation

physiology

Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein

metabolism

Immunohistochemistry

methods

Indoles

diagnostic use

Laminectomy

methods

Mice

Mice

Inbred C57BL

Microtubule-Associated Proteins

metabolism

Neurofilament Proteins

metabolism

Neurons

metabolism

Neuropeptides

metabolism

Organ Culture Techniques

Phosphopyruvate Hydratase

metabolism

Running

Scopolamine

Seizures

chemically induced

metabolism

Spinal Cord Injuries

metabolism

Stem Cells

metabolism

Time Factors

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)