Figure 2. Ovariectomized female FBN-ARO-KO mice exhibit worse neuronal damage and cognitive deficits 7 d after GCI injury. Aa, IHC analysis for degenerating neurons by F-Jade C, a typical neurodegenerative marker, with NeuN double staining. Ab, The number of F-Jade C-positive neurons per 250 um was counted. B, MAP2 staining was performed to further evaluate hippocampal CA1 dendrite morphology following aggravated neuronal damage in FBN-ARO-KO mice. C, Barnes Maze Test was used to assess the spatial reference memory. Representative track plots of FLOX+Sham (Ca), FLOX+GCI (Cb), KO+Sham (Cc), and KO+GCI (Cd) on the probe trial were recorded. Primary escape latency (Ce), escape velocity (Cf), quadrant occupancy (Cg), and exploring errors (Ch) during probe trial were analyzed. D, Open field test was conducted to determine the locomotor ability, in which the travel distance and rearing times were recorded and analyzed. Values are mean ± SEM of determinations from each group. N = 5 for A, B; N = 8 or 9 for C, D. *p < 0.05 versus FLOX+Sham. #p < 0.05 versus FLOX+GCI. NS, no significant difference.