Proliferation pattern changes in the zebrafish brain from embryonic through early postembryonic stages

Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)-immunohistochemistry was used for demonstrating the spatiotemporal course of proliferation in the brains of embryonic (24 h) through postembryonic (5 days) zebrafish (Danio rerio). Parallel series of the same stages prepared according to the combined Bodian fiber silver-stain/cresyl Nissl-stain were used for improved morphogenetic analysis (i.e., in detecting critical neuroanatomical landmarks). Starting from an essentially ubiquituous proliferation throughout the neural tube before 24 h, PCNA-immunoreactive cells become successively more restricted to a subset of gray matter cells around 48 h and even more distinct proliferation zones become apparent around 72 h. Both hindbrain and forebrain reveal a segmental organization with regard to the distribution of proliferation zones, but the rhombomeric pattern of PCNA-immunoreactive cells emerging between 48 h and 72 h precedes a similar prosomeric pattern by about 48 h. Two divisions of the midbrain-hindbrain boundary are described here morphologically and both are demonstrated to show sustained proliferation throughout the investigated time frame. In contrast, proliferation in the adjacent mesencephalic and cerebellar domains is rapidly down-regulated during the first 5 days of development.