Fig. 5

Adult hippocampal neurogenesis, cortical interneuron density, and excitation/inhibition balance are altered in Bex3 mutant mice. a Representative microphotographies of PV immunoreactivity in motor (M), cingulate (Cgl), and sensory (S) cortices, and caudate-putamen (CPu) nucleus. b PV⁺ interneuron density quantification reveals significant differences among the groups. c Relative hippocampus area with respect to total area of coronal section was determined by NeuN immunostaining and showed no differences between animal groups. d Representative images of NeuN and CR immunostainings depicting hippocampal sections of control and Bex3 mutant mice. SR; stratum radiatum. e A significant reduction in the number of NeuN⁺ neurons and calretinin (CR) interneurons in the stratum radiatum of hippocampal CA1–2 was found in Bex3^KO but not Bex3^Δ(24–72) mice. f Representative photomicrographies of dentate gyrus immunolabeled for DCX (doublecortin) as a marker for adult immature neurons. g % of DCX-positive area showing a significant and selective decrease in Bex3^KO mice. For morphological analyses, results are presented as mean ± SEM (N = 6 mice per experimental group); *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.005, ****p < 0.001, one-way ANOVA. h Evoked eEPSCs and eIPSCs in WT and Bex3^KO mice. i Relationship between the applied voltage and the amplitude magnitude of ePSCs from CA3-CA2 synapses in WT and Bex3^KO mice. j, k Representative recordings of spontaneous excitatory and inhibitory synaptic activity onto CA2 neurons illustrating frequencies and amplitudes of total (sPSCs), excitatory (sEPSCs), and inhibitory (sIPSCs) synaptic activity from WT j and Bex3^KO mice k. l Quantification of results in j and k in frequencies. m Quantification of results in j and k in amplitudes. Results are presented as mean ± SEM and the number of slices is shown in parentheses (N = 6–8 slices from 3 to 4 mice); *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, Student’s two-tailed t tests