Fig. 14

Decreased levels of synaptic structural proteins in the brains of blast-exposed rats. a, Hippocampal extracts from control and blast-exposed rats (n = 5/ group) derived from rats in cohort 2 [64] and sacrificed at 13 months after blast exposure were analyzed by Western blot with antibodies against the synaptic proteins PSD95 (postsynaptic), synaptophilin (postsynaptic spines) and synaptophysin (presynaptic vesicles). a, Blotting for PSD95 and spinophilin were performed sequentially on the same blot followed by probing for GAPDH as a loading control. b, Synaptophysin was probed in a separate blot followed by its own GAPDH control. Each lane in the Western blots is from an individual animal. Levels of synaptic proteins normalized to GAPDH are shown in the bar graphs (*, p < 0.005; **, p < 0.001; ****, p < 0.0001, unpaired t-tests). c, Immunohistochemical analyses of synaptic protein expression in the hippocampus of control and blast-exposed rats with specific antibodies. NeuN immunostaining (neuronal) is shown in green. Note that in regions affected by severe gliosis (arrows), levels of the synaptic structural proteins are further decreased. Scale, 200 µm