Figure 3.

Analysis of the enteric nervous system in P10 Gfra1 hypomorphic mice. (A) Representative images of the pan-neuronal marker ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 immunohistochemistry in coronal gut sections prepared from P10 mice. (B) Quantification of the ganglionated plexus area (black arrowheads in A) in P10 WT and Gfra1^hypo/hypo coronal gut sections; the residual staining in the Gfra1^hypo/hypo mice colon reflects hypertrophic fibers or transition zone (white arrowheads in A). P < .05 Gfra1^WT/hypo vs Gfra1^hypo/hypo in ileum and P < .01 WT and Gfra1^WT/hypo vs Gfra1^hypo/hypo in colon, N = 4–5 mice per genotype. Analysis of variance and the Tukey multiple comparisons tests were used for statistical analysis. (C) Immunostaining for the glial marker, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), in the duodenum of P10 mice is similar between genotypes (N = 3; representative images are shown). Black arrowheads indicate ganglia stained with GFAP, white arrowheads mark residual staining from hypertrophic fibers of the transition zone. Reminiscent of the results obtained using ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 at the same age (A and B) in the colon, Gfra1^hypo/hypo mice have a smaller GFAP-positive plexus area in the myenteric plexus relative to littermate controls quantified in panel D; N = 4–5 animals per genotype; P < .001, analysis of variance and the Tukey multiple comparisons test (data are presented as means ± SEM). All summary data are presented as means ± SEM. ∗P < .05, ∗∗P < .01, and ∗∗∗P < .001.