Data in bar graphs are given as the mean ± SEM. Comparisons within one age group were made with paired t-tests, matching L1-null mice with respective wild-type littermates. Significance was noted at P < 0.05. One-way ANOVA was used to compare the mean values of ChAT activity in response to increasing doses of L1-Fc followed by a Tukey's multiple comparison test and a Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical linear trend posttest. Results Evaluation of L1's expression in the brain of wild-type and L1-deficient mice Protein extracts from the brain of wild-type mice revealed the typical L1 bands at

140 and 200–220 kDa, which were absent in L1-deficient mice (Fig. 2A). Cholinergic neurons, immunoreactive for ChAT (red), were found in the MS/VDB of L1-expressing Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical (green) 2-week-old wild-type mice (Fig. 2B and C). L1 immunostaining was not detected in L1-deficient mice (Fig. 2D). Figure 2 Evaluation of L1′s expression in the brain of wild-type and L1-deficient mice. (A) Western blot analysis of whole-brain extracts from 2-week-old wild-type littermates and L1-deficient mice, confirming the lack of the typical 140, 200–220 kDa bands … ChAT-positive neurons in the MS/VDB and CPu of L1-deficient mice ChAT-positive neurons of the MS/VDB and the CPu were easily detectable and of similar appearance in L1-deficient Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical compared to wild-type

mice at 2 (Figs. 3A–D) and 4 (not shown) weeks of age. Most L1-deficient mice had enlarged lateral ventricles (Fig. 3C) compared to wild-type littermates (Fig. 3A) but the appearance of the MS/VDB and CPu was not strikingly different between L1-deficient and wild-type mice. Figure 3 ChAT-positive neurons in L1-deficient mice. (A–D) ChAT-positive cells are observed in the medial septal Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical nuclei and the vertical limb of the diagonal band (MS/VDB) Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and in the caudate-putamen (CPu) of wild-type (A, B) and L1-deficient (C, D) mice … Estimated by the optical fractionator probe, the total number of ChAT-positive neurons in the MS/VDB of 2-week-old L1-deficient

mice was 20% lower than in wild-type littermates (Fig. 3E, *P = 0.038, n = 4). In contrast, the number of ChAT-positive neurons in the CPu of 2-week-old L1-deficient mice and wild-type littermates Phosphatidylinositol diacylglycerol-lyase was not PD98059 mouse statistically different (P = 0.590, n = 3) (Fig. 3F). At 4 weeks, the number of ChAT-positive neurons was not statistically different in L1-deficient mice compared to wild-type littermates in the MS/VDB (P = 0.604, n = 5, Fig. 3E) and in the CPu (P = 0.440, n = 4 Fig. 3F). Using the nucleator probe on the same ChAT-positive neurons that were counted with the optical fractionator, the maximal cross-sectional area of ChAT-positive neurons was not statistically different in L1-deficient mice compared to wild-type littermates in the septum at 2 (P = 0.737) and 4 weeks (P = 0.424) (Fig. 3E) and in the CPu at 2 (P = 0.589) and 4 weeks (P = 0.432) (Fig. 3F).