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. 2011 Jan 31;6(1):e16197. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0016197

Figure 3. The ABD of βI-spectrin prevents actin depolymerization.

Figure 3

A, After application of latrunculin (5 µm) for 5 hr, the diameter of the spine head in cells expressing GFP alone decreased significantly (n = 500 spines/5 neurons/group; p<0.05, K-S test), whereas spine length was not changed. B, Latrunculin treatment produced no significant decrease in spine head diameter or spine length in cells co-expressing the ABD of βI-spectrin fused to DsRed and GFP, in contrast. Scale bar = 2 µm for A and B. C, Application of latrunculin-B resulted in a significant decrease in spine density in spines expressing GFP alone (n = 5 neurons/group; p<0.01 ANOVA with Tukey's test), but not in spines expressing the ABD of βI-spectrin. Spine density was significantly lower in cells expressing the β1 spectrin ABD, as compared to cells expressing GFP alone. Scale bar = 6 µm.