Fig. 1

Mrc1a-positive perivascular cells cover the zebrafish brain.

(a) Schematic diagram of an adult zebrafish brain. Dorsal view, rostral at top. Box shows region imaged in panel b. (b) Epifluorescence microscopic image of the optic lobes (top) and cerebellum of the dissected brain of a Tg(mrc1a:eGFP);Tg(kdrl:mCherry) double-transgenic 4 month old adult zebrafish (eGFP and mCherry are shown in green and magenta, respectively). (c,d) Higher magnification confocal images of Kdrl:mCherry-positive blood vessels (magenta) and closely associated Mrc1a:eGFP-positive perivascular cells (green) on the surface of one of the optic lobes of the brain. (e) Confocal image of a transverse section through the brain of a Tg(mrc1a:eGFP) transgenic adult zebrafish, at the level of the optic lobes (top), stained with anti-GFP (green) and DAPI (magenta), n = 2 brains. Box shows region depicted in panel F. (f,g) Higher magnification confocal images of the brain section imaged in panel E, showing Mrc1a:eGFP-positive cells restricted almost exclusively to the surface meningeal layer. Box in f shows region imaged in panel g. Scale bars: 500 µm (b,e), 100 µm (c), 50 µm (d), 20 µm (f,g).