Fig. 2. The elimination of CS-GAGs modifies the composition of the radial glia precursor cell pool. (A,B) The distribution of precursor cells within mouse Nsphs grown in the absence or presence of ChABC was assessed by double immunofluorescence microscopy in cryosections stained for the precursor marker nestin and the radial glia markers BLBP (A), or the radial glia markers RC2 and GLAST (B). The degradation of CS-GAGs by ChABC reduced the number of nestin- and BLBP-positive precursor cells, whereas the number of RC2- and GLAST-positive radial glia increased. (C,D) These observations were quantified using acutely dissociated suspensions of control (dark gray) and ChABC-treated (light gray) cortical (C) and striatal (D) Nsphs and plotted as percentage fractions. ChABC treatment of Nsphs led to a 3- to 4-fold reduction in the frequency of nestin/BLBP-positive cells in both the cortical and striatal Nsphs that was paralleled by a 2-fold increase in GLAST-positive cells, as compared with the control. ^*, P<0.05; ^**, P<0.01; ^***, P<0.001. Scale bar: 50 µm.