Skip to main content
. 2014 Aug 7;9(8):e104121. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0104121

Figure 4. Neuritin restores the reduction in the dendritic spine density and the maturity of individual spines in Tg2576 neurons.

Figure 4

(A) Representative images of dendrites and spines of rabies virus encoding EGFP-infected neurons are shown in the designated conditions. Scale bar represents 10 µm. (B) A summary histogram shows mean numbers of spines. Neuritin peptide (150 ng/ml) was added as a treatment for 3 days, and the dendritic spine density was then analyzed. The reduction in dendritic spine density in Tg2576 neurons (32.57±2.80/100 µm) was significantly increased to match the normal control levels in wt neurons (56.75±1.95/100 µm). (C) Proportion of spines (type I, II, III and IV) were analyzed by their morphology. Tg2576 neurons revealed a significant decrease particularly in type II spines (mushroom type; mature spines with a large head, >0.6 µm, and a short neck), but yielded a slightly higher density of type I spines (stubby type; less mature spines, relatively small spine head, <0.6 µm, and short neck, <0.3 µm) compared to the other groups. (D) A summary histogram showing mean numbers of each type of spine in the designated conditions (*p<0.05, ***p<0.001, one-way ANOVA followed by post hoc Bonferroni test).