Spatiotemporal pattern of Bax and Bcl-XL mRNAs during the first postnatal week. A–C, Detection of Bax mRNAs at the level of the cingulate (A) and retrosplenial (B, C) cortex at P1 (A, B) and P5 (C). D, E, Detection of Bcl-XL mRNAs at the level of the cingulate cortex at P1 (D) and P5 (E). F, Quantification of Bax and Bcl-XL mRNA level in the superficial layers of the cingulate cortex of normal mice during the first postnatal week. G–I, Western blot analysis of caspase-8 (G), Bcl-XL (H), and Bax (I) in the cerebral cortex of normal and VMAT2 KO mice at P2. G, Caspase-8 antibody recognized a 50 kDa band corresponding to the caspase-8 precursor. The activated caspase-8 p20 was not present both in normal and VMAT2 KO. H, Bcl-XL antibody recognized a 30 kDa band. I, Bax antibody recognized a 23 kDa band. J, Quantification of Bcl-XL and Bax protein. Data were expressed as ratio of Bcl-XL/actin and Bax/actin (n = 2, wild type; n = 3, VMAT2 KO). Values are mean ± SEM of sample animals. *p < 0.05 indicates that the results are statistically different. Scale bars: A, B, D, 300 μm; C, 250 μm; E, 200 μm.
