Fig. 1

PPA decreases density of dendritic spines in hippocampal neurons (a) pH. b Cell viability. pH was measured in cultured media. Hippocampal neurons were incubated with PPA in concentrations ranging from 0 to 100 mM for 72 h. Viability was measured by CCK-8 assay. Results are expressed as percentage of viable cells and represent mean ± SEM of three samples (n = 3). c Top shows representative pyramidal neurons transfected with PLV-GFP and treated with vehicle (PBS) and PPA (100 μM) for 72 h. Bottom shows high magnification of representative secondary dendrites. Scale bar of top panel is 20 μm; scale bar of bottom panel is 1 μm. d Bar graph showing mean ± SEM for dendritic spine numbers of the representative groups (n = 50). ***p < 0.0005, ****p < 0.0001