Early postnatal Purkinje cells from staggerer mice undergo aberrant development in vitro with characteristic morphologic and gene expression abnormalities.

The staggerer (sg) mutant mouse shows an early block in Purkinje cell (PC) development due to a truncation of the transcription factor retinoic acid-related orphan receptor alpha (ROR alpha). Cerebellar cultures from neonatal sg mice recapitulate many in vivo postnatal changes in PCs and allow for detailed observation of sequential dendritic outgrowth and gene expression changes. In addition, this in vitro system provides a tractable basis for ROR alpha replacement studies.