Fig. 5

Osmotin restores the synaptic structures in pyramidal neurons and ameliorates cognitive deficits. a Representative photomicrograph of hippocampal (CA1, CA3, and DG) sections containing Nissl-positive neurons from NSE-hαSyn Tg mice (n = 6, biologically independent animals). Magnification: 50×. Scale bar represents 40 μm. Magnification: 200×. Scale bar represents 10 μm. b Representative immunofluorescent images of NeuN levels in the hippocampus regions of NSE-hαSyn Tg mice (n = 6, biologically independent animals). Scale bar represents 100 μm. b Representative immunofluorescent images of NeuN levels in the hippocampus regions of NSE-hαSyn Tg mice (n = 6, biologically independent animals). Scale bar represents 100 μm. c Representative examples of reconstructed hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons in NSE-hαSyn Tg mice. d, g Comparative analysis of the sums of the basal and apical dendrite length and density of pyramidal neurons. e Representative examples of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons from the secondary branch in NSE-hαSyn Tg mice. f Sholl analysis of reconstructed pyramidal neurons. h Comparative analysis of the total number of spines and the numbers of filopodia-like, thin, mushroom, and stubby spines. i, j Representative immunofluorescent images of SYP and PSD-95 levels in the cortex and CA1 regions of NSE-hαSyn Tg mice (n = 6, biologically independent animals). Scale bar represents 20 μm. k–n Immunoblot results of SYP, PSD-95, SNAP-25, p-CREB, and CREB levels in the cortex and hippocampus of NSE-hαSyn Tg mice (n = 6, biologically independent animals). o Representative swimming paths of mice in the MWM test. Representative histogram of the latency to target, target zone time, time in each quadrant, and average speed (n = 12, biologically independent animals). The data are presented as the mean ± SD and are representative of three independent experiments performed in triplicate. Significance was determined by using one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni correction; ^#Comparison between control and NSE-hαSyn Tg mice, *Comparison between NSE-hαSyn Tg mice and osmotin-administered mice. ^#/*p < 0.05, ^##/**p < 0.01, and ^###/***p < 0.001