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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Jun 1.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Neurosci. 2012 Nov 11;15(12):1667–1674. doi: 10.1038/nn.3256

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Sparse knock-down of NL1 but not NL1 global knockout reduces synapse number and spine density in cortical layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons

(a) left, Schematic of the in utero electroporation method used to transfect neocortical layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons in vivo. right, Low and high magnification images of an acute slice showing EGFP expression in layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons.

(b) Western blot analysis of knock-down efficiency in shNL1 and NL1-GFP transfected HEK293T cells.

(c–d) Western blot analysis of endogenous NL1-3 expression in dissociated cortical cultures transduced with lentivirus encoding sh-NL1 #7 or lentivirus carrying a control vector compared to that in uninfected controls.

(e) Examples and summary of spine density in layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons in acute brain slices expressing EGFP (control), sh-NL1#7 (sh-NL1), or sh-NL1 and hNL1.

(f) Examples and summary of spine density in acute brain slices of NL1+/+, NL1−/−, and NL1−/− neurons transfected with sh-NL1.

(g–h) Representative mEPSCs (top) and their average amplitude and frequency (bottom) for neurons of each indicated genotype. Error bars: s.e.m. *: p<0.05 vs. control.