Figure 4. Elimination of PhLP1 does not impact survival and connectivity of striatal neurons.
(A) PhLP1 expression in different brain regions from adult mice as determined by immunoblot analysis. (B) Generation of PhLP1 conditional knockout out. Pdclflx/flxmice were crossed with Rgs9-Cre mice to generate striatal specific PhLP1 conditional knockout (Pdcl cKO) mice (C) Representative images of Nissl-stained coronal brain sections from adult control and Pdcl cKO mice. Stm, striatum. (Scale bar, 1 mm). (D) Left: Striatal volume of adult Pdcl cKO mice was reduced by 30% as compared with control mice (n = 4 mice each). Error bars represent SEM. Student’s t test: **p<0.01. Right: Counts of striatal neurons in Pdcl cKO and control mice obtained from Nissl-stained sections. The striatal neuron counts were increased by 43% compared with control mice (n = 4 mice each). Error bars represent SEM. Student’s t test: *p<0.05. (E) Left: Representative images of anti-enkephalin and anti-substance-P stained brain sections. GPe, external globus pallidus. SNr, substantia nigra pars reticulate. (Scale bar, 2 mm.) Right: Quantification of immunofluorescent signal for enkephalin and substance-P. Mean intensity of signals from both antibodies showed no significant difference between control and Pdcl cKO mice. Error bars represent SEM.