Culturing conditions remarkably affect viability and organization of mouse subventricular zone in ex vivo cultured forebrain slices.

Mammalian neurogenic sites are good models for physiological neural cell renewal in the perspective of brain repair. Yet, investigating their stem cell niches is not easy since they are small areas deeply hidden in the brain hemispheres. Organotypic slices could be a useful tool since they substantially retain the three-dimensional tissue organization.

Maternal deprivation and early handling affect density of calcium binding protein-containing neurons in selected brain regions and emotional behavior in periadolescent rats.

Adverse early life experiences can induce neurochemical changes that may underlie modifications in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responsiveness, emotionality and cognition. Here, we investigated the expression of the calcium binding proteins (CBPs) calretinin, calbindin and parvalbumin, which identify subpopulations of GABAergic neurons and serve important functional roles by buffering intracellular calcium levels, following brief (early handling) and long (maternal deprivation) periods of maternal separation, as compared with non-handled controls. CBP-expressing neurons were analyzed in brain regions related to stress and anxiety.