Figure 3.

Knocking down endogenous α-takusan variants exacerbates Aβ-induced synaptic loss in cultured hippocampal cells. Cultured hippocampal neurons infected with a lentiviral vector encoding EGFP and control shRNA (Ctrl shRNA; i, ii) or EGFP and takusan shRNA NN002 (Tksn shRNA; iii, iv) were exposed for 6–8 h to Ctrl (−; i, iii) or Aβ CM (+; ii, iv). The infected cells were visualized by coexpressed EGFP. A, Immunohistochemistry using antibodies against PSD-95 (red) and synapsin I (Syn; blue) on dendrites of neurons. Scale bar, 5 μm. B, C, Quantification of the density of PSD-95 clusters (B) and juxtaposed PSD-95/Syn coclusters (C). Values are mean ± SEM. n = 10. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, by one-way ANOVA.