Distinguishing features of progenitor cells in the late embryonic and adult hippocampus

Adult neurogenesis occurs within the subgranular layer of the hippocampal dentate gyrus. In this study, we examined dividing cells in the late embryonic and adult rat hippocampus to identify distinguishing characteristics and potential neural stem cell population(s), as identified by the putative neural stem cell markers FGFR4 and Sox1. In embryonic hippocampal cells in primary culture, basic fibroblast factor caused cell proliferation, increased telomerase activity and upregulation of FGFR4 mRNA. In both the embryonic and adult brains, proliferating cells express Sox1, as well as markers for neuronal- and glial-restricted precursors. However, the cell markers associated with cells expressing proliferative cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and Sox1 differed between late embryonic and adult hippocampus, suggesting that there are important differences between adult and embryonic neurogenesis.