Fig 1: Cntnap1–/– mice showed increased spine density and an increase in the number of PV+ and VIP+ neurons.(A) Representative Golgi staining of cortical layers II/III of adult Cntnap1-/- mice (apical dendrites, 5 months of age, n = 3 for WT and Cntnap1-/- mice). Scale bar: 4 µm. (B) Costaining of Cntnap1 and PV in WT mouse brain at P15. Scale bar: 200 µm. (C) Representative immunochemical images of the S1 primary somatosensory cortex and hippocampus in coronal slices of P15 mouse brains stained with a PV antibody. Scale bar: 500 µm. (D) Quantitative analysis of spine density in Cntnap1–/– mice (22 and 25 neurons from each group were randomly selected and measured). Statistical significance was evaluated by Student’s t test. **P = 0.0093. Data are shown as mean ± SEM. (E and F) Quantitative analysis of the number of PV+ neurons in Cntnap1–/– mice (n = 3 mice for WT and KO) compared with their normal littermates. Statistical significance was evaluated by Student’s t test. Data are shown as mean ± SEM. For the quantification of PV+ neurons in cortex, ***P = 0.001. For the quantification of PV+ neurons in hippocampus, **P = 0.0025. (G and H) Representative immunochemical images of the S1 primary somatosensory cortex and hippocampus in coronal slices of P15 mouse brains stained with a VIP (green) and SST (red) antibody. Scale bar: 500 µm. On the right are enlarged images of boxed hippocampus stained with VIP antibody. (I and J) Quantitative analysis of the number of VIP+ and SST+ neurons in Cntnap1–/– mice compared with WT (n = 3 mice for WT and KO). For the quantification of VIP+ neurons in hippocampus, ***P = 0.0002. Statistical significance was evaluated by Student’s t test. Data are shown as mean ± SEM.