Aldh1a1 is not required for central nervous system stem cell maintenance or function. (A) Lateral ventricle SVZ cells from young (2-3 months) and old (24-27 months) Aldh1a1^+/− () and Aldh1a1^−/− () mice were cultured. Aldh1a1 deficiency did not affect the frequency of neurospheres (A), neurosphere diameter after 8 to 10 days in culture (B), neurosphere differentiation (C,D), or the capacity of primary neurospheres to form large (> 100 μm; these are almost always multipotent) secondary neurospheres upon subcloning (E). Colonies were assessed for the presence of neurons (N), astrocytes (A) and oligodendrocytes (O). The size of secondary neurospheres was also not affected (F). All data represent a total of 3 to 7 mice per treatment, in at least 3 independent experiments except for F which represents 2 independent experiments with 1 mouse per experiment. (G, H) Aldh1a1 deficiency also did not affect the rate of neurogenesis (frequency of BrdU + NeuN + neurons) in the olfactory bulb of 18-month-old adult mice in vivo (n = 2 mice with 25 sections per mouse). Error bars represent SD.