| Abstract: | We introduce a new transplantation technique for analyzing suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) development and function. Neural precursor (‘stem’) cells are harvested from the brains of mice engineered to express the green fluorescent protein, propagated in culture with growth factors, and injected into the forebrain ventricles of individual embryos in order to gain access to the ventricular germinal zone and the developing brain. Initial data indicate that such cells can incorporate within the SCN and appear to differentiate into astroglial phenotypes. In addition to applications in chronobiology, SCN chimeras may be a potentially powerful model system for analyzing the structural and functional plasticity of implanted precursor cells. |
