Fig. 2From: The Q/R editing site of AMPA receptor GluA2 subunit acts as an epigenetic switch regulating dendritic spines, neurodegeneration and cognitive deficits in Alzheimer’s diseaseGenetically encoding GluA2(R) in J20 mice rescues neuronal and spine numbers but does not alter Aβ-pathology. a NeuN+ neurons in the hippocampus of WT, GluA2G/G, J20 and GluA2G/G/J20 mice. Stereological quantification of neuronal numbers revealed a significant decrease in the CA1 neuronal population of J20 mice compared to all other genotypes (n = 5/genotype) while no changes to CA3 neuronal populations were observed (n = 5/genotype). b Representative images of Golgi-stained CA1 dendritic spines in WT, GluA2G/G, J20 and GluA2G/G/J20 mice. Quantification of spine density revealed a significant reduction of spines in J20 mice compared to all other genotypes (n = 3 dendritic branches/neuron with 3 neurons/brain and 5 brains/genotype). Both GluA2G/G and GluA2G/G/J20 mice displayed significantly higher spine density than WT littermates. c Scholl analysis and representative traces of Golgi-impregnated neurons from the hippocampal CA1 revealed significantly reduced numbers of dendritic intersections in J20 mice at varying distances from the soma compared to WT (*), GluA2G/G (^) and GluA2G/G/J20 (#) animals (n = 3 neurons/brain and 5 brains/genotype). d Representative image of Thioflavin-S+ plaques in J20 and GluA2G/G/J20 mice. Quantification revealed no significant differences in Thioflavin-S+ plaques (n = 8/genotype). No differences in other Aβ species including (e) total 6E10+ area (n’s; J20 = 5, GluA2G/G/J20 = 4), (f) Aβ40 (n = 8/genotype), (g) Aβ42 (n = 13/genotype), or (h) total soluble and insoluble Aβ (n = 5/genotype) were observed between J20 and GluA2G/G/J20 mice. a-b Analysed using univariate ANOVA with Bonferroni correction, c analysed using two-way ANOVA with Bonferroni correction, d-g analysed using t-tests with Welch’s corrections and h analysed using either Mann-Whitney test (soluble fraction) or unpaired t-test (insoluble fraction). Each value represents the mean ± the SD for bar graphs and SEM for line graphs. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001Back to article page