Figure 3

Synaptic damage in the cerebral cortex of EPM2A- /- mice (1 month-old) measured by different techniques. A) Representative western blot of quantification of two synaptic proteins (synaptophysin and synaptotagmin) in cerebral cortex lysates (n = 5). Comparable amounts of samples are loaded. This result demonstrated clearly the reduction synaptic proteins in the cerebral cortex of laforin-deficiency mice. B) Semi-quantification of synaptophysin measured by confocal microscopy in sections of cerebral cortex of EPM2A-/- mice (n = 3). Moreover, this experiment also revealed the reduction of synaptic protein in these mice. C) Western blot quantification of two synaptic proteins, synaptophysin and synaptotagmin, in cerebral cortex lysates of EPM2A-/- mice at different ages: 5, 15 and 30 days-old. These results illustrates that the synaptic damage occur at very early ages. Results are mean ± SEM *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 wild-type mice vs EPM2A -/- mice (ANOVA followed by Student’s t test).