Neurogenesis and precursor cell differences in the dorsal and ventral adult canine hippocampus

During evolution a unique anterior-posterior flexure posited the canine dentate gyrus in two distinct dorsal and ventral positions. We therefore sought to explore neurogenesis and neurogenic cell-related difference along the canine hippocampal dorsal-ventral axis. Post mortem histological analysis revealed 49.1% greater doublecortin (DCX)-positive cells and a 158.5% greater percentage of double labeled DCX-positive/neuronal nuclei (NeuN) positive cells in the dorsal subgranular zone compared to the ventral. We then show neural precursor cells isolated from fresh hippocampal tissue are capable of proliferating long term, and after differentiation, express neuronal and glial markers. Dorsal hippocampal isolates produced a 120.0% higher frequency of sphere-forming neural precursor cells compared to ventral hippocampal tissue. Histological DCX and neurosphere assay results were highly correlated. Overall, we provide the first evidence that the dorsal canine hippocampus has a markedly higher rate of adult neurogenesis than the ventral hippocampus, possibly related to a greater frequency of contributory neural precursor cells.