Fig. 6
Abnormal Purkinje cell morphology at P5 recovers by P15. (a) Based on anatomical assessments, Purkinje cells in Car8wdl cerebella are qualitatively abnormal at P5 when compared to Purkinje cells in control cerebella. (b-d) The architectural appearance of Purkinje cell dendritic arborization looks normal in Car8wdl cerebella from P10 to P20. The scale bar represents 50 μm. (e-h) Quantifying dendritic tree length, width, area, and branching at P5 revealed significant differences in 3 of the 4 parameters (n = 3 mice per genotype). Car8wdl Purkinje cells (n = 210) are narrower, cover a smaller area, and have fewer branches (n = 180 control cells) compared to controls. Dendrite length, p = 0.2015; Dendrite width, ** p < 0.01; Dendrite area, * p < 0.05; Branch number (no), ** p < 0.01; Student’s t test; Mean ± SEM. (i-l) Car8wdl Purkinje cells (n = 112) no longer cover a smaller area, no longer have fewer branches, and their dendritic trees are no longer narrower at P10 (n = 80 control cells; n = 3 mice per genotype). Dendrite length, p = 0.6386; Dendrite width, p = 0.2251; Dendrite area, p = 0.6216; Branch number, p = 0.3305; Student’s t-test; Mean ± SEM. (m-p) Purkinje cell morphology (n = 80 mutant cells, 64 control cells) is normal across all parameters at P15 (n = 3 mice per genotype). Dendrite length, p = 0.7201; Dendrite width, p = 0.2766; Dendrite area, p = 0.8135; Branch number, p = 0.3486; Student’s t-test; Mean ± SEM