Figure 3. Conditional Loss of MCT1 in OLs Has Subtle Effects on the mRNA, but Not Protein, Expression of Other MCTs and Connexin Hemichannels.

(A–C) Mct, connexin, and Glut mRNA expression in the spinal cord of P45 Mog^Cre-MCT1^lox and MCT1^lox mice. Mct2 mRNA expression is elevated by 26% and Mct4 expression by 24% in the conditional nulls, whereas Mct1 mRNA expression is unchanged (n = 9–10, **p < 0.01, *p < 0.05, Student’s t test) (A). Cx43 hemichannel mRNA expression is increased by 27% and Cx47 is increased by 30% in the Mog^Cre-MCT1^lox mice compared with the MCT1^lox controls (n = 5–7, **p < 0.01, *p < 0.05, Student’s t test) (B). There are no changes in expression for glucose transporter 1 (Glut1) and glucose transporter 3 (Glut3) (n = 10) (C). Data are represented as mean ± SEM.

(D–F) Western blot on whole spinal cord protein lysates from P45 Mog^Cre-MCT1^lox and MCT1^lox controls does not reveal changes in the expression of MCT2 (D), Cx43 (E), and GLUT1 and GLUT3 (F) (n = 4). Data are represented as mean ± SEM.

(G–I) Mct, connexin, and Glut1 mRNA expression in whole spinal cord extracts from P45 Sox10^Cre-MCT1^lox and MCT1^lox controls. There is a 51% reduction in Mct1 mRNA, but no changes in Mct2 or Mct4, in the conditional nulls (n = 4–6, ****p < 0.0001, Student’s t test) (G). There are no changes in mRNA expression of Cx43 and Cx47 (H) or Glut1 (I) (n = 4–6). Data are represented as mean ± SEM.