Developmental changes of neuron-specific enolase in human brain: an immunohistochemical study

Developmental changes of neurons containing neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in human brain were studied in various areas of the central nervous system by immunohistochemistry with the peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) method. In the brain stem, Purkinje cells, dentate nucleus, globus pallidus and thalamus, the number of NSE-positive neurons increased from an early period in gestation. However, in the pontine nucleus and putamen, it gradually increased along with decreasing cellularity later in gestation and in the infantile period. In the cerebral cortex, NSE-positive neurons developed as late as in the putamen and their cellularity increased earlier in the 5th layer than in the 3rd layer. Developmental changes of NSE-positive neurons parallel phylogenesis. The appearance of NSE-positive neurons can be a marker of neuronal maturation.