Fig. 7: APO blocked the recovery effects of GMF return on defective adult hippocampal neurogenesis of HMF-exposed mice.

a Experiments timeline for cell proliferation analysis in HMF-exposed mice, followed by return to GMF with or without APO treatment. b-d Quantification of numbers of BrdU⁺Sox2⁺GFAP⁺ cells (b) and BrdU⁺Sox2⁺GFAP^– cells (c) and active caspase-3⁺DCX⁺ cells (d) in the DG of HMF-exposed mice, followed by return to GMF with or without APO treatment. GMF, n = 4 mice, HMF, n = 4 mice, HMF + GMF + Vehicle, n = 4 mice, HMF + GMF + APO, n = 4 mice. P values were determined using two-tailed unpaired t test. e Experiments timeline for cell differentiation analysis in HMF-exposed mice, followed by return to GMF with or without APO treatment. f–h Quantification of numbers of BrdU⁺ cells (f), BrdU⁺NeuN⁺ cells (g), and BrdU⁺S100β⁺ (h) in the DG of HMF-exposed mice, followed by return to GMF with or without APO treatment. GMF, n = 4 mice, HMF, n = 4 mice, HMF + GMF + Vehicle, n = 4 mice, HMF + GMF + APO, n = 4 mice. P values were determined using two-tailed unpaired t test. i Experiments timeline for the in vivo labeling and analyses of newborn neurons in HMF-exposed mice, followed by return to GMF with or without APO treatment. j, k Quantification of the dendritic length (j) and dendritic complexity (k, HMF + GMF + Vehicle versus HMF + GMF + APO, UNIANOVA, F(1, 150) = 29.23, P < 0.001,) of RFP⁺ newborn neurons in the DG of HMF-exposed mice, followed by return to GMF with or without APO treatment, 4-weeks after retroviruses injection. GMF, n = 82 neurons from four mice, HMF, n = 46 neurons from four mice, HMF + GMF + Vehicle, n = 72 neurons from four mice, HMF + GMF + APO, n = 80 neurons from four mice. Data were analyzed by UNIANOVA analysis, and the two-tailed unpaired t test for two-group comparisons. l, m Quantification of the dendritic length (l) and dendritic complexity (m, HMF + GMF + Vehicle versus HMF + GMF + APO, UNIANOVA, F(1, 209) = 138.45, P < 0.001) of RFP⁺ newborn neurons in the DG of HMF-exposed mice, followed by return to GMF with or without APO treatment, 8-weeks after retroviruses injection. GMF, n = 144 neurons from four mice, HMF, n = 187 neurons from four mice, HMF + GMF + Vehicle, n = 80 neurons from four mice, HMF + GMF + APO, n = 131 neurons from four mice. Data were analyzed by UNIANOVA analysis, and the two-tailed unpaired t test for two-group comparisons. The data in (j) were presented in whisker plot with defined elements, median (centerline), upper and lower quartiles (bounds of box), and highest and lowest values (whiskers). Other data are presented as mean ± SEM.