Cell proliferation in the post-natal and adult mammalian central nervous system

Abstract

In the mammalian central nervous system cell proliferation is generally linked to developmental processes that are ultimated in the perinatal period. Few exceptions to this rule are known in certain regions of the mammalian brain, namely the post-natal cerebellar cortex and the adult subependymal layer. We report here the results of our studies about cell proliferation and related phenomena in these regions. Cell proliferation was visualised after bromodeoxyuridine incorporation and labeling of the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), an endogenous protein expressed during the cell cycle. The occurrence of programmed cell death in the post-natal cerebellar cortex and the persistence of the embryonic isoform of neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) associated with proliferating cells in the adult subependymal layer were also investigated.