Meis1 plays roles in cortical development through regulation of cellular proliferative capacity in the embryonic cerebrum

• Published in: Biomedical Research Vol. 43; no. 3; pp. 91 - 97
• Main Authors: ISOGAI, Eriko, OKUMURA, Kazuhiro, SAITO, Megumi, TOKUNAGA, Yurika, WAKABAYASHI, Yuichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sapporo Biomedical Research Press 19.06.2022; Japan Science and Technology Agency
• Subjects: Antibodies; Cell death; Cell differentiation; Cell migration; Cell proliferation; Cerebral cortex; Cerebrum; Electroporation; Embryogenesis; Embryonic growth stage; Embryos; Glial cells; Nestin; Neural stem cells; Pax6 protein; Progenitor cells; Radial glial cells; Stem cell transplantation; Stem cells
• ISSN: 0388-6107; 1880-313X
• DOI: 10.2220/biomedres.43.91

Meis1 (myeloid ecotropic insertion site 1) is known to be related to embryonic development and cancer. In this study, to analyze the function of Meis1 in neural stem cells, we crossed Meis1fl/fl (Meis1 floxed) mice with Nestin-Cre mice. The results showed that Meis1-conditional knockout mice showed cerebral cortex malformation. The mice had a significantly thinner cortex than wildtype mice. At E14.5, BrdU incorporation and Pax6-positive radial glial cells were significantly decreased in the cerebral cortex of Meis1 knockout embryos as compared with wild-type embryos, whereas Tbr2-positive intermediate progenitors and NeuN-positive differentiated neurons were not. Cell death detected by immunostaining with cleaved caspase3 antibody showed no difference in the cortex between knockout and wild-type embryos. Furthermore, knockout of Meis1 in embryo by in utero electroporation showed that cellular migration was disturbed during cortical development. Therefore, Meis1 could play important roles during cortical development through the regulation of cell proliferation and migration in the embryonic cerebral cortex.