Fig. 5. Cerebellum formation in fgf8-/-; OtxH
embryos at 5 days post-fertilization. Transverse sections of cerebellar
areas from wild-type (A,E,I), OtxH
(B,F,J), fgf8-/-
(C,G,K) and fgf8-/-; OtxH
(D,H,L) embryos showing expression of pax6 and
reelin in granule cells (arrowheads in A-D and E-H, respectively) and
zebrin in Purkinje cells (I-L). A total number of 10, 4 and 12
fgf8-/-; OtxH embryos were analysed for pax6,
reelin and zebrin staining, respectively. All the
fgf8-/-; OtxH embryos show the rescued phenotype. The
count of zebrin-positive cells on vibratome 15 µm sections shows that a
very small number of Purkinje cells are sometimes present
[fgf8-/- embryos have 2.4±2.4 positive cells
(n=4 embryos counted) whereas fgf8-/-; OtxH
embryos have 15±5 Purkinje cells per section (n=4)]. Cartoons
represent transverse section through the cerebellum in wild type (M),
OtxH (N), fgf8-/- (O) and
fgf8-/-; OtxH (P). Zebrin-positive cells
are brow; reelin and reelin+ pax6 granule cells are
blue and green, respectively. Only a subset of reelin cells is positive for
pax6. Granule cells are always missing in fgf8-/-
(C,G). Ventral reelin staining corresponds to glial cells of the
reticular formation, whereas proliferative regions of the midline at the level
of the IVth ventricule and two lateral stripes of radial glia are
pax6 positive.