Restoring striatal WAVE-1 improves maze exploration performance of GluN1 knockdown mice - Fig 7

Striatal MSN spine density (a), Y-maze performance (b), and 8-arm radial maze performance (c) are deficient in GluN1KD mice and improved in GluN1KD-WAVE mice. a) Representative images of MSN dendrites (left) and spine density quantifications (right) show lower spine density in GluN1KD mice compared to WT littermates but not in GluN1KD-WAVE hybrids. Mouse sample sizes are denoted within each bar. Male mice were used in this experiment. 3–6 dendrite sample images were analyzed for each mouse. Scale bar represents 20μm. Data was analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn’s multiple comparisonsfor all pairings, * p = 0.048. b) GluN1KD, but not GluN1KD-WAVE, mice had significantly lower % 3-arm alternation scores compared to WT and WAVE-Tg mice. GluN1KD-WAVE mice also had a significantly higher score compared to GluN1KD mice. Data was analyzed by one-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni post hoc comparisons for all pairings, * p p p post hoc analysis reported an adjusted p p = 0.02 for GluN1KD-WAVE mice WMEs compared to GluN1KD mice. In the context of 8-arm radial maze WMEs, intercrossing GluN1KD and WAVE-Tg mice resulted in a partial rescue. Male and female mice were used in behavioral experiments. No gene-sex interaction effects were observed in these behavior tests, thought male mice did perform better than female littermates in the Y-maze test (S1 Table). Sample sizes are indicated next to their respective genotypes in the legend.