Fig. 4
Cre/ROCK2fl/fl mice display increased apical spine length among ventral CA1 pyramidal neurons. a Schematic representation of iontophoretic injection sites in ventral CA1 (vCA1) of the hippocampus. b Representative maximum intensity projections of deconvolved confocal z-stacks of Lucifer yellow-filled dendrites in vCA1 are shown (left) for ROCK2fl/fl and Cre/ROCK2fl/fl mice. Corresponding three-dimensional reconstructions of the dendrites are provided (right), with the spines color-coded by spine type (blue = thin, orange = stubby, green = mushroom, yellow = filopodia). Scale bars = 6 µm. c Overall mean spine density and d densities of thin and stubby were similar between groups yet, Cre/ROCK2fl/fl mice showed decreased mushroom spine density (t(9) = 1.975, *p = 0.0462) compared to ROCK2fl/fl littermates. e Cre/ROCK2fl/fl mice show increased mean spine length (t(9) = 2.367, *p = 0.0421) compared to ROCK2fl/fl mice. f There were no differences in overall mean head diameter between groups. There were no differences in g apical spine density and h densities of thin, stubby, and mushroom spines. i Apical spine length was increased in Cre/ROCK2fl/fl mice (t(9) = 2.376, *p = 0.0415) compared to ROCK2fl/fl littermates. j There were no differences in apical head diameter between groups. Cre/ROCK2fl/fl mice had no differences in basal k spine density, l densities of thin, stubby, and mushroom spines, m spine length, and n head diameter compared to ROCK2fl/fl littermates. N = 5 ROCK2fl/fl mice (2 M, 3 F) and 6 Cre/ROCK2fl/fl (3 M, 3 F) mice at 8–9 months of age. Unpaired t-tests were used for all comparisons. Each point represents one mouse and the error bars indicate the standard error of the mean. R2fl/fl, ROCK2fl/fl; Cre/R2fl/fl, Cre/ROCK2fl/fl