Fig. 5

Sox2 and Notch have synergistic effect on neurogenesis and complementary effects on cell-fate determination.

(A–D) The number of pineal neurons (Isl1-positive cells) is increased in sox2 morphants (B) and in DAPT-treated embryos (C), when compared to DMSO-treated controls (A). A synergistic effect is observed when both sox2 and Notch are knocked down (D). (E–H) Tg(aanat2:GFP) drives GFP expression in the pineal PhRs in DMSO-treated controls (E). The number of PhRs is increased in sox2 morphants (F), but remains unaffected in DAPT-treated embryos (G). The knockdown of both sox2 and Notch results in an increased number of GFP-positive cells (H), comparable to the one observed in sox2 morphants. (I–L) Tg(elavl3:GFP) expresses GFP in PNs. There is no difference in the number of GFP-positive in sox2 morphants (I) when compared to DMSO-treated controls (I). The knockdown of Notch alone (K) or simultaneously with sox2 (L) results in similar increase in GFP expression. (M–O) Average number of Isl1-positive cells (M), PhRs (N) and PNs (O) in untreated controls, DMSO-treated controls, untreated sox2 morphants, DMSO-treated sox2 morphants, DAPT-treated embryos and DAPT-treated sox2 morphants. Confocal maximum projections of 28 hpf embryos, scale bars = 25 μm, error bars represent ± standard error, * = p-value <0.05 (MWU test), ** = p-value <0.001 (MWU test). See also Figure S5–S7 and Movie S1–S2.