In vivo electroporation of the postnatal rodent forebrain

Abstract

In the postnatal mammalian brain, the periventricular region lining the cerebral ventricles represents one of the main stem cells niches of the brain, generating new neurons for the olfactory bulb throughout life. Electroporation of this periventricular stem cell compartment allows the efficient and relatively simple manipulation of gene expression in vivo. This approach enables functional analysis of the molecular regulation of neurogenic processes at high resolution, thus permitting insight into the cell biology of neurogenesis in the living animal. Here, we present in detail the different steps of this approach from experimental procedure to sample analysis and discuss possible applications and perspectives.