Figure 5. Somatosensory area identity is properly determined in Pum2 cKO and TDP43^A315T mutants despite layers IV and V being ‘motorized.’.

(a) Coronal sections of one brain hemisphere from controls (Ctrl), Pum2 cKO, and TDP43^A315T brains at P0 co-immunostained for Lmo4 and Bhlhb5. Selected regions are marked by white rectangles in the upper panel, and high-magnification views of frontal motor (F/M) and prospective somatosensory (pS) areas are shown below. Scale bars: 400 μm and 100 μm, respectively. Quantification of results is shown to the right. (b) Sagittal sections from controls, Pum2 cKO (top), and TDP43^A315T (bottom) at P7 immunolabeled for serotonin (5HT). Quantification of the number of barrels per section is shown to the right. Scale bar: 100 μm. Data are shown as means ± standard error of the mean (SEM), n = 3 for each genotype. *p≤0.05, **p≤0.01, ***p≤0.001, two-tailed t-test. Pum2 cKO: Pum2^fl/fl; Emx1^Cre; Ctx: cortex; Hip: hippocampus; Str: striatum; S1BF: barrel field region of S1. Scale bar: 100 μm.