Fig 5. Oxytocin treatment has minimal effect on NPC proliferation.

Scatter plots showing the proportion of proliferating NPCs treated with either 100 pM or 100 nM of oxytocin for 6 or 24 h, and after 24 h following removal of oxytocin from the medium. Proliferation was quantified with EdU incorporation and Ki67 immunocytochemistry. There were no differences in NPC proliferation with oxytocin treatment either at 6 or 24 h, though the overall rate of proliferation was significantly higher in the 24 vs the 6 h group for both EdU incorporation and Ki-67 immunoreactivity. There were no significant treatment*time interactions for either EdU incorporation or Ki-67 immunoreactivity. The results were very similar in the oxytocin withdrawal experiments, except that Ki-67 immunoreactivity was significantly lower in the 24 compared to the 6 h group. Data are expressed as mean ± S.E.M from three biologically independent NPC cultures.