Fig. 6: IL-13 increases synaptic activity.
From: Interleukin-13 and its receptor are synaptic proteins involved in plasticity and neuroprotection
a, b Significant increase in the amplitude of excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSC) after 30 min of IL-13 treatment (p = 0.0139). N = CTR: 50 cells; IL-13: 45 cells. c No significant difference in paired pulse facilitation (PPF - interstimulus interval 25 ms) after 30 min of IL-13 treatment (p = 0.2508). N = CTR: 50 cells; IL-13: 45 cells. d, e Significant increase in the amplitude of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSC) after 30 min of IL-13 treatment (p = 0.0475). N = CTR: 50 cells; IL-13: 45 cells. f Significant increase in the frequency of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSC) after 30 min of IL-13 treatment (p = 0.0179). N = CTR: 50 cells; IL-13: 45 cells. g, h Anti-synaptotagmin antibody feeding assay; significant increase of anti-synaptotagmin-labelled synapses after IL-13 treatment in rat cortical neurons. JAK (Ruxolitinib; 280 nM) and ERK1/2 (PD98059; 20 μM) inhibitors significantly abolish the IL-13 induced synaptotagmin labelling (veh vs IL-13: p = 0.0366; IL-13 vs Rux: p = 0.0344; IL-13 vs PD: p = 0.0368). STAT6 (AS1517499; 1 μM) inhibitor did not alter IL-13 induced synaptotagmin labelling (p > 0.9999). Total number of synapses was assessed by synaptophysin immunostaining after fixation/permeabilization. N = 3; n = Veh: 72; IL-13: 78; Rux: 69; PD: 69; AS: 76 dendrites. IL-13 used at 50 ng/mL; 0.1% BSA (electrophysiology) or 0.1% DMSO (pharmacology) as vehicle control. Scale bar overview: 20 μm, insert: 10 μm. *: p < 0.05. b, c, e, f two-tailed Mann–Whitney test. h One-way ANOVA with Sidak’s multiple comparison. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
