Characterization of assay cultures.

<p><b>A.</b> Expression of astroglial genes in primary cultured cortical astrocytes. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis of Mecp2 and astroglial genes was performed in wild-type (white column) and MeCP2-null (gray column) astrocytes. Mecp2 e1 and e2 were detectable in the wild-type astrocytes. The lower graphs show that the GFAP/HPRT or S100β/HPRT expression ratio in each genotype was normalized against the level in control astrocytes. Bars represent the means ± standard errors (SE) of samples from three independent experiments (*p<0.05). The expression of astroglial markers was significantly upregulated by MeCP2 deficiency. <b>B.</b> Expression of MeCP2 in the primary cultured cortical astrocytes. The astrocytes were immunostained with MeCP2 (green) and GFAP (red) as glial-specific astrocytic markers. Scale bars indicate 50 µm.