Fig. 2: Increased total and phosphorylated STAT3 protein in the hippocampus of ethanol withdrawn rats after chronic exposure. | Translational Psychiatry

Fig. 2: Increased total and phosphorylated STAT3 protein in the hippocampus of ethanol withdrawn rats after chronic exposure.

From: Transcriptomics identifies STAT3 as a key regulator of hippocampal gene expression and anhedonia during withdrawal from chronic alcohol exposure

Fig. 2

Rats were fed control liquid diet (C), ethanol liquid diet (E), or ethanol liquid diet followed by 24 h of withdrawal from ethanol diet (W). The dorsal hippocampus was either (A–C) dissected and protein lysates analyzed by western blot (n = 6 per group) or (D–J) processed for immunohistochemistry (n = 3 per group). A Representative western blot showing (top to bottom) merged image of phosphorylated (p)STAT3 and STAT3, STAT3 (red), pSTAT3 (green), and β-actin (red). Molecular weight markers are indicated in kDa. B Levels of STAT3 relative to β-actin. C Levels of pSTAT3 relative to β-actin. Data are presented as the mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05 and **p < 0.01 when compared with control by Kruskal–Wallis test after one-way ANOVA. Representative images of hippocampus showing pSTAT3-positive cells in brown in (D–F) control and (G–I) ethanol withdrawn rats. Panels (D) and (G) are images at ×5 magnification with a scale bar representing 100 μm. Boxes show areas that are magnified in (E–F) and (H–I), with scale bar representing 50 μm. sg stratum granulosum, SM stratum moleculare, SLM stratum lacunosum moleculare, SR stratum radiatum, H hilus. J Representative immunofluorescent image of pSTAT3 in green, colocalized with the astrocytic marker glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in red. White arrows show localization of pSTAT3 in a GFAP-expressing cell. Scale bar, 50 μm.

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