Comparable level of dendritic structure between different shRNA-transfected neurons. Effect of overexpression of three different plasmid transfections on dendritic morphology in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons. A, Low (top) and high (bottom) magnification images obtained from empty vector, pSup (left), shLuc (middle), and shScr (right) transfected neurons. Each plasmid was cotransfected with pCAG-EGFP. Fixed slices were immunostained against GFP and neuronal images were obtained by two-photon microscopy. B, Scatter plots of spine length (left), width (middle), and density (right). Error bars indicate SEMs. Note that none of these parameters displayed statistical significance by gene transfection. Number of dendritic segments/cells/mice: pSup, 31/5/5; shLuc, 31/5/5; and shScr, 28/5/5.