Fig. 3

Cr deletion leads to a decreased ratio of barrel/septum size. a Immunostaining of vGlut2 in the P30 barrel cortex showed that in Cr KO mice, the organization of barrel columns was partly spread out compared with that in control mice (indicated by the red arrows; Cont, n = 3; KO, n = 3). b Nissl staining showed that the L4 spiny stellate neurons of Cr KO mice became disordered in the barrel wall regions compared with those of the control mice (indicated by the white arrowhead; Cont, n = 3; KO, n = 3). c DAPI staining further confirmed the disrupted arrangement of L4 spiny stellate neurons in barrel wall regions in Cr KO mice at P30 (indicated by the white arrowheads; Cont, n = 3; KO, n = 3). d–f Immunostaining of DAPI and vGlut2 in a flattened tangential section across L4 of the barrel cortex showing the entire pattern of the barrel field. The barrel field was reconstructed using ImageJ software. The morphometric data (from A2 to E4; the barrels are green, and the septa are blue) of the barrel field were analyzed (Cont, n = 3; KO, n = 3). g–j Morphometric analysis of the barrel field. Loss of Cr had no effect on the size of the entire barrel field. The ratio of septa/barrel size (from A2 to E4) was significantly increased in Cr KO mice compared with control mice. The decreased barrel/(barrel + septa) ratio and increased septa/(barrel + septa) ratio further confirmed that the barrel column was contractible and that the septa column was outstretched in Cr KO mice (Cont, n = 3; KO, n = 3). Data are presented as the mean ± SEM; unpaired Student’s t-test. ***p < 0.001. Scale bars: 200 μm.