A small minority of transplanted cultured DG cells become DG granular neurons <i>in-vivo</i>.

<p>The DG was dissected out of newborn GFP+ rats and expanded for 7 days as neurospheres. The cultures were dispersed and transplanted into the DG of adult rats. (A) Examples of GFP+ cell transplants 6 weeks after grafting. Some grafted cells are expressing NeuN and they are all found in granular layer (GL). (B) Some grafted cells in the subgranular zone expressing the progenitor cell marker Sox2. (C) Image of grafted cell expressing the DG granular cell marker Prox1. Note that the Prox1+ cell has extended dendrites into molecular layer and is morphologically similar to the endogenous neurons. (D) Total number of grafted cells per animal expressing the different markers at 2 and 6 weeks (mean ± SEM, n = 5), *p<0.05. Scale bar = 20 µm for A–C.