Cellular genesis in the postnatal piglet

Because of the anatomical and developmental similarity of the piglet brain to the human brain we were interested in characterizing the areas of cellular genesis which occur postnatally to validate the model for subsequent neurobiological research. In this study, four piglets were injected with 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) at 6, 7 and 8 days of age. The animals were sacrificed at 13 days of age and the brains were analyzed to characterize areas of cellular genesis. BrdU was seen throughout the brain and found to be most abundant in the subventricular zone (SVZ); doublecortin (DCX) expressing cells were found throughout the white matter—with an extensive DCX network in the SVZ. Here we describe for the first time the use of immunohistochemistry for BrdU and DCX to study cellular genesis in the piglet brain.