FIGURE 7.

Maternal nicotine exposure promoted elongation of axons and expression of the synaptic-associated protein in offspring. (A) Maternal nicotine exposure promoted elongation of axons in ML, DG and CA1, but did not affect on axonal prolongation in CA3. (B) NeuroD1-positive cells in the offspring’ hippocampi were analyzed by immunofluorescence staining. Representative images were shown. (C) The quantification of fluorescence intensity by ImageJ showed that the immunofluorescence intensity of NeuroD1 decreased obviously in the hippocampus of the nicotine group, including in CA1 (D) and CA3 (E) not in DG (F). (G) Western blot analysis of the activation of PSD95 and GAD1 in the hippocampus of the offspring. (H) PSD95 protein level was increased in nicotine offspring as compared to vehicle offspring. There is no difference in GAD1 between nicotine and vehicle treatment. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01; Scale bar:200 μm (A); 200 μm (low power lens), 50 μm (high power lens) (B). all data are means ± SEM.