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Distribution and Morphological Features of Microglia in the Developing Cerebral Cortex of Gyrencephalic Mammals

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Abstract

Microglia have been attracting much attention because of their fundamental importance in both the mature brain and the developing brain. Though important roles of microglia in the developing cerebral cortex of mice have been uncovered, their distribution and roles in the developing cerebral cortex in gyrencephalic higher mammals have remained elusive. Here we examined the distribution and morphology of microglia in the developing cerebral cortex of gyrencephalic carnivore ferrets. We found that a number of microglia were accumulated in the germinal zones (GZs), especially in the outer subventricular zone (OSVZ), which is a GZ found in higher mammals. Furthermore, we uncovered that microglia extended their processes tangentially along inner fiber layer (IFL)-like fibers in the developing ferret cortex. The OSVZ and the IFL are the prominent features of the cerebral cortex of higher mammals. Our findings indicate that microglia may play important roles in the OSVZ and the IFL in the developing cerebral cortex of higher mammals.

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Abbreviations

CP:

Cortical plate

GZ:

Germinal zone

IFL:

Inner fiber layer

ISVZ:

Inner subventricular zone

IZ:

Intermediate zone

OSVZ:

Outer subventricular zone

VZ:

Ventricular zone

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Drs. Eisuke Nishida (Kyoto University), Shigetada Nakanishi (Suntory Foundation for Life Science) and the late Yoshiki Sasai and for their continuous encouragement. We thank Zachary Blalock and Kawasaki lab members for their helpful support. This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, the Uehara Memorial Foundation and Takeda Science Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa University, Takara-machi 13-1, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 920-8640, Japan

    Keishi Mizuguchi, Toshihide Horiike, Naoyuki Matsumoto, Yoshie Ichikawa, Yohei Shinmyo & Hiroshi Kawasaki

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  1. Keishi Mizuguchi
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  2. Toshihide Horiike
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  3. Naoyuki Matsumoto
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  4. Yoshie Ichikawa
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  5. Yohei Shinmyo
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  6. Hiroshi Kawasaki
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Correspondence to Hiroshi Kawasaki.

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Mizuguchi, K., Horiike, T., Matsumoto, N. et al. Distribution and Morphological Features of Microglia in the Developing Cerebral Cortex of Gyrencephalic Mammals. Neurochem Res 43, 1075–1085 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-018-2520-0

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