Fig. 2: An increase in neural stem cells and a decrease in ependymal cells in Prdm16 cKO V-SVZ.

a Whole-mount preparation, in which the entire surface of the lateral walls of the lateral ventricles is cut out for immunohistochemistry experiments. b Neural stem cells and ependymal cells were identified by a combination of markers on whole-mount preparations. Neural stem cells are positive for Vcam1 and Sox2 with single dots positive for γ-tubulin immunofluorescence (a single basal body associated with a single primary cilium). Ependymal cells are negative for Vcam1 with clusters of γ-tubulin immunofluorescence (multiple basal bodies associated with multiple cilia). Created in BioRender. Zhang, Y. (2025) https://BioRender.com/p63y337. c An example of a Vcam1⁺ neural stem cell with a single γ-tubulin⁺ dot (arrowhead) and examples of Vcam1⁻ ependymal cells with clusters of γ-tubulin⁺ dots (arrows). Scale bar: 10 μm. The experiment was repeated more than three times. d Vcam1, γ-tubulin, and Sox2 immunofluorescence on whole-mount preparations of P35 Prdm16 cKO and control mice. Scale bar: 50 μm. e Quantification of neural stem and ependymal cells at P34–35. n = 3 mice per genotype. Two-tailed Welch’s t-test, total cells p = 0.9949, neural stem cells p = 0.0219, ependymal cells p = 0.0208. Data are presented as means ± SEM as appropriate.