Astrocyte aging does not affect the number of synapses.

<p>(A) Representative images of autaptic neurons immunostained for the dendritic marker MAP 2 (green) and the excitatory nerve terminal marker VGLUT 1 (red). Parts of images in the top row are enlarged in the bottom row. (B) The number of VGLUT 1-positive synaptic puncta in autaptic neurons co-cultured with 5- (control), 9- and 16-week-old astrocytes (<i>n</i> = 33, 36 and 41 autaptic neurons, respectively). (C) Area (size) of the VGLUT 1-positive synaptic puncta, measured as the number of pixels. The data were obtained from the specimens used in (B).