Fig. 1

PCE-induced IUGR rats develop ASD-like symptoms with microglia activation and neuronal synapse over-pruning in hippocampus. A Schematic of the experimental design. PW, postnatal week. GD, gestational day. B An illustrative example of travel pathways of rats in social choice test, open field test, and Y maze test. C Time of rats spent in each zone in social choice test. D Marble burying index in marble burying test. E Time spent in the center, distance traveled in the center, and total distance traveled in open field test. F Spontaneous alteration rate in Y maze test. G Images under fluorescence microscopy showing different regions in hippocampus. Iba1 staining (green) and nuclear staining (DIPA, blue). Scale bar = 50 μm. H–J Number of Iba1⁺ cells, number of endpoints per microglia, and process length. K–P Golgi staining. K Representative reconstruction of the hippocampal neurons. Scale bar = 50 μm. L Dendritic length of hippocampal neurons. M Number of branch points in hippocampal neurons. N Representative images of dendritic segments. Scale bar =10 μm. O Total spine density in hippocampal neurons. P Mushroom spine density in hippocampal neurons. Q Ultrastructure of neuronal synapses. Scale bar = 500 nm. R Synaptic vesicle numbers, synaptic cleft, postsynaptic density (PSD) thickness, and length of synaptic active zone. S mRNA levels of Syn and Psd95. Dots in panels represent individual samples. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. ^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.01, and ^***P < 0.001