Choline acetyltransferase expressed by radial glial cell in the development of telencephalon

Aim: To search the evidences for whether cholinergic neuron is derived from radial glial cell in developing telencephalon, and study the relationship of ontogeny of cholinergic neuron and differentiation of neural stem cell. Methods: The experiment was carried out in the Laboratory of Cell Culture and Immunohistochemistry, Department of Histology and Embryology from March 2002 to January 2003. Firstly, fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) was used to confirm the time of generation of cholinergic neuron; Secondly telencephalons of rats at embryonic 14 days (E14) were performed coronary sections, then immunohistochemistry double staining for Vimentin (a protein marker of radial glial cell) and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT, a protein marker of cholinergic neuron) to test whether ChAT was expressed in the population of radial glial cell. Results: The percent of immunofluorescent staining of ChAT was 22.49% in telencephalon cells of E12 rat by FACS. Vimentin-positive cells co-expressed ChAT in ventricular zone of dorsal telencephalon and lateral ganglionic eminence of E14 rat. Conclusion: (1) The ontogeny of cholinergic neuron began at E12.(2) The population of radial glial cell indeed has the property of neural stem cell and continually undergoes asymmetrical cell division to generate neuronblast with cholinergic phenotype, or cholinergic progenitor. (3)It is suggested that the cell fate of the population of radial glial cell has been decided in the asymmetrical cell division, and then synthesizes into neurotransmitter acetylcholine.