Fig. 1.

LPS addition causes reduction of synaptophysin protein with no change in PSD95. Fourteen days in vitro organotypic hippocampal slice cultures were challenged with 200 ng/ml LPS for a further 7 days. Slice cultures were harvested, and synaptic proteins examined by western blot (a). Seven days of LPS treatment results in loss of the presynaptic protein synaptophysin (**p = 0.0051) (b) but with no change in the post-synaptic protein PSD95 (p = 0.32) (c) (n = 4 per treatment group). There is a significant decrease in synaptophysin mRNA (*p = 0.014) (d) and PSD95 mRNA (*p = 0.012) (e) after LPS treatment (n = 10 per treatment group). All statistics were conducted using a paired t test to account for matched control and treated OHSCs from the same animal. Error bars = mean ± SEM