Cerebellar histogenesis as seen in identified cells of normal-reeler mouse chimeras

The potential contribution of cell-cell interactions and extracellular factors to cytoarchitectonic abnormalities in the cerebellum of the reeler mutant mouse was investigated by forming chimeras between the reeler and normal animals. The strain origin of Purkinje cells, granule cells and Golgi epithelial cells was immunohistologically identified with a strain-specific antibody. We analyzed 16 overt coat color chimeras, 10 reeler <--> C3H and 6 reeler <--> Balb/c. Abnormal behavioral traits of reeler were rescued in all chimeras. However, cerebellar histology was more affected in reeler <--> C3H chimeras than in reeler <--> Balb/c. Purkinje cells from the normal genotype occupy ectopic positions, and reeler genotype cells are arranged appropriately in the same chimeric cerebellum. We also obtained histologically normal chimeras with a significantly high contribution of the reeler genotype in Purkinje cells, Golgi epithelial cells and granule cells. These results clearly indicate that the abnormal cell positioning and cytoarchitecture of neurons and glia in the reeler is caused by a deficiency of extracellular environments, but is not determined cell-autonomously. The present data on chimeric mice suggest that Reelin is one of the important extracellular environmental factors that affects indirectly radial glial cells during cerebellar histogenesis.