Regionalization defects in the weaver mouse cerebellum

The mammalian cerebellum consists of parasagittal bands and transverse zones that are laid down early in development. When the adult cerebellum is immunostained for the Purkinje cell-specific antigen zebrin II (i.e., aldolase C), compartmentation is reflected in alternating zebrin II+ (P+) and zebrin II- bands (P ). The zebrin II phenotype is Purkinje cell autonomous; thus, disruptions in the zebrin pattern may reflect early problems in pattern formation. Zebrin II expression has been examined in the weaver (wv) mouse cerebellum. Both zebrin II- and zebrin II Purkinje cells are present in the homozygous weaver (wv/wv) mouse, but they are not distributed normally. In the posterior vermis, although the zebrin II+ bands are wider and multilaminate, the standard compartmentation is present. However, a large zebrin II+ cell mass is absent from the central vermis, and analysis of the anterior lobe reveals several missing zebrin II- bands. The cytoarchitectonic defects in wv mice are not simply related to the Purkinje cell abnormalities. Instead, serial reconstruction reveals two transverse boundaries-one rostrally in lobule VI and the other caudally in lobule IX-that delineate cytoarchitectonic transverse zones important in cerebellar development. The abnormal zebrin expression pattern in wv/wv mice may be secondary to the deletion of a transverse zone. This is the first demonstration that Purkinje cell compartmentation can be altered by mutation; therefore, the wv mutation should prove valuable in understanding cerebellar regionalization.