Neocortical molecular layer heterotopia in substrains of C57BL/6 and C57BL/10 mice

• Published in: Brain research Vol. 1391; pp. 36 - 43
• Main Authors: Lipoff, Danielle M, Bhambri, Ankur, Fokas, Georgia J, Sharma, Sanjeev, Gabel, Lisa A, Brumberg, Joshua C, Richfield, Eric K, Ramos, Raddy L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 19-05-2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Chi-Square Distribution; Ectopia; Female; Lamination; Male; Malformation; Malformations of the nervous system; Medical sciences; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL - anatomy & histology; Mice, Inbred C57BL - classification; Myelin Sheath - pathology; Neocortex - abnormalities; Neocortex - cytology; Neocortical dysplasia; Neurology; Ectopia; Lamination; Malformation; Neocortical dysplasia; Cerebral cortex; Dysplasia; Rodentia; Central nervous system; Encephalon; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Mouse; Animal
• ISSN: 0006-8993; 1872-6240
• DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2011.03.026

Abstract Abnormal development of the neocortex is often associated with cognitive deficits and epilepsy. Rodent models are widely used to study normal and abnormal cortical development and have revealed the roles of many important genetic and environmental factors. Interestingly, several inbred mouse strains commonly used in behavioral, anatomical, and/or physiological studies display neocortical malformations including C57BL/6J mice, which are among the most widely utilized mice. In the present report we describe the prevalence and cytoarchitecture of molecular-layer heterotopia in C57BL/6J mice and related strains obtained from three commercial vendors as well as mice bred in academic vivaria from founders obtained commercially. In particular, we found that the prevalence of molecular-layer heterotopia vaired according to the sex as well as the vendor-of-origin of the mouse. These data are relevant to the use of this strain as a mouse-model in the study of brain–behavior relationships.