Figure 2
Effect of folate on the expression of NMDA receptor subunit GluN2B and on extracellular matrix organization. Effects of folate on the presence of the NMDA receptor subunit GluN2B in mature hippocampal neurons. (a,b) Representative stitched confocal images of GluN2B distribution in the dentate gyrus (DG) of aged wild-type mice treated with vehicle (a) or folate (b). Higher magnifications (×40 oil immersion objective was used with additional zoom applied) of the molecular cell layer of (a,b) (yellow squares) are shown. (c) Histogram showing the percentage of area occupied by the GluN2B signal in the molecular layer of the DG. The effect of the absence (dark grey) or presence (light gray) of folate is shown. Treatment with folate induced a significant increase in GluN2B expression in the DG (t = 2.269, df = 8). (d,e) Representative stitched confocal images of Wisteria floribunda agglutinin (WFA, in green), as a marker of perineuronal nets (PNN) in the DG of vehicle-treated and folate-treated mice. The nuclear marker DAPI is shown in blue. Higher magnifications of the molecular cell layer of (d,e) (yellow squares) are shown. (f) Single-dose treatment with folate resulted in statistically significant changes in PNN density in the DG (t = 2.166, df = 8) (mean ± SEM; *p < 0.05, Student’s t-test). Scale bars, 100 µm (a,b,d,e) and 10 µm (higher magnifications).
