BDNF mediates the effects of EE on RGC dendritic segregation.

<p>(A) Examples of an ON-OFF RGC (left), an ON RGC (center), an OFF RGC (right) in retinal vertical sections of P16 EE antisense treated mice (top row) or sense treated mice (bottom row) (scale bar: 50 µm). Conventions as for <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0000346#pone-0000346-g001" target="_blank">Fig. 1</a>. (B) Average percentage of bistratified RGCs in P16 non-EE mice (white), untreated EE mice (control, black), EE mice treated with BDNF antisense (antisense, vertical line-pattern) and EE mice treated with BDNF sense (sense, horizontal line-pattern). In the retinas of EE mice injected with BDNF antisense oligos (N = 5) the percentage of bistratified RGCs is similar to that of normal non-EE mice of the same age (51,9±2,5%, 43/84 cells <i>versus</i> 53,8±3,2%, 91/169 cells), whereas the control treatment with sense oligos (N = 5) has no effect on the accelerated development produced by EE (32,2±3,5%, 29/88 cells <i>versus</i> 36,9±5,2%, 31/81 cells in EE mice treated with BDNF sense oligos and EE untreated mice, respectively). One Way ANOVA indicates a statistical difference (asterisks) between control EE and antisense treated EE, between sense and antisense treated EE mice and between non-EE and control or sense treated EE mice; no difference is found between untreated (control) and sense treated EE mice and between non-EE and antisense treated EE mice (p = 0,001; <i>post-hoc</i> Tukey's test). The bars indicate SEM. The blockade of BDNF expression blocks the effects of EE on RGC dendritic stratification.