Student Speaker: Leigh Anne Swayne Neural Regeneration Laboratory and Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology, Dept of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada Pannexin 2 is expressed in postnatal hippocampal neural progenitor cells Objectives: Gap junction connexin proteins are established regulators of neural stem and progenitor cell proliferation, migration, and specification in embryonic and postnatal brain. The pannexins (Panx1, 2, and 3) are a newly discovered family of gap junction-like proteins. Expression of Panx2 is constrained to the central nervous system and increases during postnatal brain development. To date, Panx2 has been observed in adult neurons and activated astrocytes. We sought to determine whether Panx2 is expressed in hippocampal neural progenitor cells. Materials and Methods: Postnatal hippocampal progenitor cells were cultured as neurospheres from day 3 (P3) C57BL/6 mouse pups and analyzed by RTPCR, Western blot, immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry for Panx2 expression. Protein was localized to specific cell subtypes and intracellular organelles usng antigenic markers in vitro and in vivo. Results: Here, we report for the first time that Panx2 forms distinctive rod-like structures in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and Golgi apparatus of Type 1 and Type IIa neural progenitor cells of neonatal hippocampus. Conclusion: Together these data implicate a new gap junction-like protein, Panx2, in the regulation of multipotential neural progenitor cell fate during early postnatal hippocampal development. Funding: Supported by operating and salary support grants from CIHR and Genome Canada to SALB. LAS is a Vision 2010/Ontario Ministry of Research Innovation/Parkinson’s Research Consortium post-doctoral fellow. CDS holds a NSERC CGS-M scholarship.