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Fig. 4 | Molecular Brain

Fig. 4

From: Loss of Calretinin in L5a impairs the formation of the barrel cortex leading to abnormal whisker-mediated behaviors

Fig. 4

Increased neuronal excitability and excitatory synaptic transmission in L5a Cr KO neurons. a–e The resting membrane potentials in Cr KO L5a neurons were comparable to those in control L5a neurons (a). The mean action potential (AP) current threshold was markedly decreased in Cr KO neurons (b). Both the mean input resistance (c) and amplitude of the AHP (d) were significantly higher in Cr KO neurons than in control neurons. The changes in AP half-width (e) were not significantly different between control and Cr KO neurons (Cont, > 30 cells from 4 mice; KO, > 20 cells from 3 mice). f Representative responses to currents (150 and 250 pA) recorded from RFP+ L5a pyramidal neurons in the control (left, black) and Cr KO (right, red) mice. g The number of spikes is displayed against depolarizing current steps of increasing amplitude. Six 400-ms depolarizing currents ranging from 50 to 300 pA at 50-pA intervals were injected. Cr KO pyramidal neurons fired more action potentials than control neurons in response to the same amount of current (Cont, > 30 cells from 4 mice; KO, > 20 cells from 3 mice). h Sample traces of mEPSCs were recorded from RFP+ L5a pyramidal neurons of control and Cr KO mice. i–j The mean amplitude of mEPSCs (i) was not remarkably different between control and Cr KO neurons. However, the mean mEPSC frequency (j) was strongly increased in Cr KO neurons compared with control neurons (Cont, 25 cells from 4 mice; KO, 19 cells from 3 mice). Data are presented as the mean ± SEM; a–e, g unpaired Student’s t-test. i–j, K-S test. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.

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