Hippocampal pyramidal neurons from SUR1 Tg174 mice are resistant
to KA-induced excitotoxicity. Reconstruction of the dentate gyrus
(A) and the pyramidal neuron layer (B) of
the hippocampus using morphometric analysis of cresyl violet-stained
sections of the entire hippocampus allowed the determination and
comparison of pyramidal neuron layer volumes. Volume decreased in the
pyramidal neuron layer of the WT + KA group (B), but no
significant decrease in dentate gyrus volume (A) was
observed after KA administration to any of the mice (WT, TG174, TG166 +
KA). Manual counts of pyramidal neurons in the CA1, CA2, and CA3
subfields revealed a significant loss of neurons in the WT + KA group
CA1, CA2, and CA3, and the CA2 and CA3 from the TG166 + KA group.
However, there was no significant neuronal loss observed in mice from
the Tg 174 + KA group. *, Significantly different from control
(WT + saline), P < 0.05, ANOVA followed by
Tukey's multiple comparison test. (A), Significantly
different from WT + KA group, P < 0.05, ANOVA
followed by Tukey's multiple comparison test.