We have studied the expression of genes for neuronal microtubule-associated proteins in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures using immunoblotting and polymerase chain reaction combined with reverse transcription on a single-slice basis. We found that for microtubule-associated protein 2 and tau the same developmental transition from embryonic to adult splice variants occurs in the cultures as has been described previously in intact brain. This finding indicates that the maturation profile of these proteins is not determined by extrinsic inputs but by a cell-autonomous programme or local factors within the hippocampus. Our study corroborates previous data for the maturation of hippocampal slice cultures and is also the first biochemical analysis on the level of the neuronal cytoskeleton of this widely used model system for the hippocampus.