Figure 2

Effects of antidepressant-activated astrocytes on the proliferation of NPCs in a contact-independent culture system. (A) Proliferation of NPCs co-cultured with astrocytes using the Banker culture system. The astrocytes were not in contact with NPCs and could affect NPCs only through a diffusible factor. After BrdU immunocytochemical analysis, the nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). An arrowhead (pink color) marks BrdU-labeled NPCs. Scale bar, 50 μm. (B) Quantification of the proliferation of NPCs. NPCs in control group were not exposed to astrocytes. In comparison with the control group, naïve astrocytes increased the number of BrdU (+) NPCs. However, in comparison with naïve astrocytes, those treated with 10 μM of desipramine or fluoxetine did not further increase the proliferation of NPCs (p > 0.05). Data shown are mean values ± SEM. One-way ANOVA was used for intergroup comparison, Tukey's multiple comparison test was used for post-hoc comparisons.