FIGURE 5.

Knockdown of 5-Htr6 expression rescues developmental retardations induced by MAO-A knockdown. Mouse embryos were explanted at E7.5 and subjected to in vitro culture. Transfection complexes containing 100 nm siRNA (scrambled siRNA, MAO-A siRNA, 5-Htr1a siRNA, or different 5-Htr6 siRNAs) were injected into the amniotic cavity. After 72 of in vitro culture, embryos were collected and analyzed. A, expression of MAO-A, 5-Htr1a, 5-Htr6, and the housekeeping protein β-actin was analyzed by Western blotting. B, panels a–e, representative images of differently treated mouse embryos are shown. Arrows indicate brain regions with defective development. C, developmental progress of the embryos following different treatments was quantified by morphometric scoring. Significances were calculated using Student's t test; n = 4. ***, p < 0.001; **, p < 0.01; *, p < 0.05. Error bars represent S.D. If no error bars are visible in the diagrams, no developmental variations between embryos of one experiment could be detected.