Molecular layer heterotopia of the cerebellar vermis in mutant and transgenic mouse models on a C57BL/6 background

•Mutant mice on a C57BL/6 background exhibit cerebellar heterotopia.•Cre-transgenic mice on a C57BL/6 background exhibit cerebellar heterotopia.•Cerebellar heterotopia may affect results from studies with mutant/transgenic mice.

C57BL/6 mice exhibit spontaneous cerebellar malformations consisting of heterotopic neurons and glia in the molecular layer of the vermis (Tanaka and Marunouchi, 2005 and Mangaru et al., 2013). Malformations are only found between folia VIII and IX and are indicative of deficits of neuronal migration during cerebellar development. In the present report we test the prediction that mutant and transgenic mouse models on a C57BL/6 background will also exhibit these same cerebellar malformations. Consistent with our hypothesis, we found that 2 spontaneous mutant models of Parkinson's disease on a C57BL/6 background had cerebellar malformations. In addition, we found that numerous transgenic mouse lines on a full or partial C57BL/6 background including eGFP-, YFP- and Cre-transgenic mice also exhibited heterotopia. These data suggest that histological analyses be performed in studies of cerebellar function or development when using C57BL/6 or other mice on this background in order for correct interpretation of research results.