The role of gp130 in cerebral cortical development: In vivo functional analysis in a mouse exo utero system

The role of gp130 in cerebral cortical histogenesis remains unknown. Mice lacking gp130 showed a hypoplastic cortical plate and decreased incorporation of 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU) in progenitor cells of the developing cerebrum. In contrast, injection of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), a gp130 ligand, into the lateral cerebral ventricle of wild-type embryos exo utero induced hyperplasia of the cerebral cortex and increased the incorporation of BrdU in progenitor cells. Furthermore, chronologically controlled injection of LIF followed or preceded by BrdU revealed that gp130-mediated signals promote the progenitor cells to reenter the stem cell cycle without affecting the duration of cell cycle and enhance the migration of postmitotic neurons in the developing cerebrum.