Skip to main content
. 2009 Oct 20;4(10):e7506. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007506

Figure 1. Elective exercise decreases BMP4 and increases noggin expression in the hippocampus.

Figure 1

Separate groups of C57Bl/6 mice were exposed to running wheels for 0, 2, 4, 7, 10 or 14 days (n = 8 per exposure group). (A) Performance on a Y-maze task of hippocampus-dependent cognition shows a duration-response curve with exercise-induced improvements beginning after 7 days of running exposure. (B) qRT-PCR analyses show decreases in levels of BMP4 mRNA and increases in noggin mRNA in the hippocampus preceding the onset of improvements in Y-maze performance. (C) Examples of Western blots for noggin, BMP4 and PCNA protein in the hippocampus after increasing durations of exposure to elective exercise. (D) Quantification of the Western analyses of hippocampal BMP4, noggin and PCNA shows a duration-dependent relationship, with the onset of changes in BMP4 and noggin levels preceding those for the cell proliferative marker, PCNA. * Differs from control (day 0) group at p<0.01