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. 2022 Feb 15;16:823060. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2022.823060

FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 2

In the somatosensory cortex (layer I) Mecp2 KO astrocytes show slight cytoskeletal alterations in early-symptomatic mice (P20), that worse in moderate (P40) and severe symptomatic animals (P70). (A) Representative images of brain coronal sections, with the somatosensory cortex (layer I) highlighted in red. (B) Micrographs are representative images of WT and Mecp2 KO astrocytes immunostained for GFAP (green) and DAPI (blue) in the somatosensory cortex (layer I) at P40. Scale bar = 10 μm. (C,D) The graphs show the total length of processes (C) and their number (D) in astrocytes in the somatosensory cortex of WT and Mecp2 KO at P20, P40, and P70. Data are represented as mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 by Student’s t-test or Mann–Whitney test in accordance with data distribution. One-way ANOVA indicates a significant increase in the total length and number of WT and KO astrocyte processes from P20 to P40 (p < 0.001). (E–G) The graphs depict data from Sholl analysis, reporting the number of intersections of WT and KO astrocyte processes with concentric circles, at P20 (E), P40 (F), and P70 (G). Representative images of reconstructed astrocyte arbors by SNT plugin are reported above each graph. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 by two-way ANOVA, followed by Sidak’s multiple comparison test. WT and Mecp2 KO astrocytes (P20: n = 36 WT and n = 36 KO; P40: n = 16 WT and n = 35 KO; P70: n = 34 WT and n = 36 KO; n indicates the number of cells) derived from at least three different animals per genotype (P20: N = 4 WT and N = 4 KO; P40: N = 3 WT and N = 5 KO; P70: N = 4 WT and N = 4 KO; N indicates the number of animals).