New calretinin-positive cells with polymorphous spines in the mouse forebrain during early postnatal ontogeny

Immunohistochemical studies of calretinin (CR) in forebrain structures adjacent to the anterior horn of the lateral ventricle in adult mice allowed us to detect a population of previously unknown mono- and bipolar cells whose bodies and processes were coated with polymorphous spines (PS) (Morfologiya, 135, No. 3, 7-19 (2009)). CR-positive spiny (CR(+)PS) cells did not contain GAD67 and were located in the white matter and layers V-VI of the frontal area of the dorsomedial cortex close to the cingulum, the rostrodorsal part of the caudate-putamen, the anterior olfactory nucleus, and the subependyma of the dorsolateral angle of the lateral ventricle. We report here studies of the distribution of these cells in seven-day-old mice. Comparative topographic analysis of definitive and early CR(+)PS cells showed that in seven-day-old mice, CR(+)PS cells were absent from the sites at which they were seen in adults, i.e., the anterior olfactory cortex, the cortical plate, and the inner part of the neostriatum. In addition, small numbers of CR(+)PS-like cells were seen at this age within the dorsal migration pathway, at the anterior margin of the neostriatum, along the dorsal border of the neostriatum with the corpus callosum, in the subependymal layer of the lateral wall of the lateral ventricle, and in the cingulum area. These data demonstrate that CR(+)PS cells may have a postnatal origin. Experiments to verify this hypothesis were performed using postnatal administration of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) to mice aged 2-4 days, followed by assessment of brain sections fixed at age 20 days. Double immunolabeling of sections for CR and BrdU demonstrated the presence of CR(+)PS cells containing postnatally supplied BrdU. These data provide evidence that at least some CR(+)PS cells undergo mitosis at postnatal age. In all probability, during the period from 7 to 20 days of postnatal development, CR(+)PS cells migrate to the sites that they occupy in adult animals.