FIGURE 5.

Mecp2 deficiency causes a reduction of the thickness of the motor and somatosensory cortex, which correlates with astrocytic atrophy. (A,B) Representative images of brain coronal sections stained with DAPI. Traced lines were used to measure the thickness of whole layers (A) and layer I (B) in the motor (white) and somatosensory cortex (yellow). Original magnification: 4×. Scale bar = 400 μm. (C–F) The graphs depict changes in the thickness of whole cortical layers and layer I of the motor (C,D) and somatosensory cortices (E,F) of Mecp2 null mice compared to their WT littermates, at different ages. 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 reduction in the thickness of whole layers of WT and KO motor and somatosensory cortices from P20 to P70 (p < 0.001); analysis of layer I reports a significant reduction from P20 to P70 in KO motor (p < 0.01) and somatosensory (p < 0.001) cortices, but not in WT tissues. Measurements of WT and KO brains derived from at least three non-consecutive slices of at least three different animals per genotype (P20: N = 4/5 WT and N = 4/6 KO; P40: N = 3 WT and N = 5 KO; P70: N = 5 WT and N = 5 KO).