Figure 1

Neurospheres derived from the PTPσ(-/-) knockout mouse brain show normal morphological features. a) Classical appearance of neurospheres in culture. Clonal derived spheres from a PTPσ(-/-) mouse visualized by differential interference contrast microscopy. Scale bar = 50 μm b) Nestin expression in a medium sized neurosphere from a PTPσ(-/-) mouse. This stem cell/progenitor cell marker is uniformly distributed throughout the sphere. Confocal microscopy. Scale bar = 50 μm c) Double labeling for nestin (rhodamine-red) and the EGF-R (fluorescein-green) in a sphere derived from a PTPσ(+/-) mouse. Confocal microscopy. Scale bar = 50 μm d) Immunofluorescent image of the NG2 progenitor cell marker (fluorescein-green) and the neuronal marker tubulin (rhodamine-red) in a neurosphere generated from a PTPσ (-/-) mouse. Epi-fluorescence microscopy. Scale bar = 50 μm.