Assessment of adult neurogenesis in mice

Adult neurogenesis is a lifelong developmental process that occurs in two discrete regions in the adult mammalian brain: the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus (DG) and the subventricular zone (SVZ) along the lateral ventricles. Despite immense interest in the therapeutic potential of adult neural stem cells (aNSCs) residing along these two neurogenic regions, molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating this process are not fully defined. Defining the regulatory mechanisms responsible for the genesis of new neurons in the adult brain is integral to understanding the basic biology of aNSCs. The techniques described here provide a basic blueprint to isolate, culture, and perform experiments using aNSCs in vitro as well as providing methods to perform immunohistochemistry on brain sections. Curr. Protoc. Toxicol. 56:12.20.1-12.20.16. © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.