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Fig. 3 | Neural Development

Fig. 3

From: Precise levels of nectin-3 are required for proper synapse formation in postnatal visual cortex

Fig. 3

Nectin-3 knockdown at ~P19 increases dendritic spine density at P35. a A Cre-dependent shRNA construct to nectin-3 (or scramble shRNA construct) was co-electroporated with a Cre-dependent FLEX tdTomato plasmid (also expressing synaptophysin-EGFP) into developing CaMKII-Cre transgenic mice. b Both apical and basal dendrites on CaMKII-Cre/shRNA/tdTomato positive neurons were imaged at P35 (40x image, scale bar = 50 μm). c Mice were electroporated at E15.5 to target developing L2/3 neurons, but Cre recombination is not observed until ~P19 in the CaMKII-Cre mouse line [42]. For this experiment, neurons develop normally until nectin-3 knockdown at ~P19. Mice were sacrificed and neurons were imaged at P35. d Dendritic spine densities are significantly higher at P35 when nectin-3 is knocked down at ~P19 using a CaMKII-Cre mouse. Each dot represents a single dendrite. One apical and one basal dendrite per cell were counted. Significance is denoted by ‘*’ (Additional file 5, CKII-control: N = 14 cells, 28 dendrites, 5 animals; CKII-Nec3-shRNA: N = 16 cells, 32 dendrites, 6 animals). e Representative images of apical dendrites from control and Nec3-shRNA animals (63x image, scale bar = 10 μm)

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