Fig. 5.

Tau phosphorylation, synaptic loss and apoptosis in APN KO mice after sevoflurane exposure. (a) Western blot results of phosphorylated tau in APN-KO mice after sevoflurane exposure. Significant up-regulation in p-tau (Ser 199/202) (n = 4). (b) Sevoflurane enhanced TUNEL immunofluorescence and (c) increased Bax/Bcl2 ratio in the hippocampus of APN-KO mice. Scale bar = 50 μm. n = 4. (d) Dendritic spine loss in APN- KO mice. n = 12 in total, 3 dendrites were chosen at random from 4 mice in each group. All data are presented as the mean and SEM. Western blot results represent the band densities that were normalized with their endogenous protein control. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 in comparison to the respective control groups. Values were analysed using the unpaired t-test