Fig. 6

BC1 KO mice show abnormal spine plasticity in response to whisker deprivation. a Schematic illustrating the cortical layers and dendrites of the somatosensory cortex analyzed 1 week after whisker deprivation. The brain slice photograph was taken from MBL brain atlas of the C57BL/6j mouse⁸² (http://www.mbl.org/atlas170/atlas170_frame.html). b Changes in spine density after whisker deprivation in WT and BC1 KO mice were detected by Golgi staining and are expressed as percentage relative to their respective control groups (*P < 0.05 as compared to control, Mann–Whitney U-test, mean ± s.e.m., layer 2/3: n = 15/14 and 14/13 neurons for I/C WT and KO mice, respectively; layer 4: n = 12 and 13 neurons for WT and BC1 KO mice, respectively). c Representative immunoblots (left) and quantitative analysis (right) of the levels of GluR subunits in the ipsilateral [Ipsi] and contralateral [Contra] barrel cortex of WT and BC1 KO mice 1 week after whisker deprivation. Values expressed as ratio (fold of ipsilateral) of GluR over Vinculin protein levels (*P < 0.05, two-tailed t-test, mean ± s.e.m., n = 9 WT and 7 KO mice)