Fig. 1

Altered expression of neurodevelopmental markers in the parietal cortex of IUGR newborn piglets. a Immunofluorescent staining of mature neurons using the neuron-specific nuclear marker NeuN in NG and IUGR brains at P4. NG brains displayed robust NeuN expression throughout the cortex, while IUGR consistently showed lower levels of expression. Scale bars = 100 μm. Quantification of expression found a decreased number of NeuN-positive labelled cells in IUGR at both P1 and P4 compared with age-matched NG brains (c). b Representative staining of degenerating neurons (Fluoro-Jade C positive cells, green) observed in both NG and IUGR brains at P4 (scale bar = 50 μm). FJC-positive cells displayed distinct staining of cell bodies and processes. These cells co-localised with neurons displaying lower expression of NeuN (see insets; NeuN-positive cells, red). d IUGR brains displayed significantly higher numbers of FJC-positive cells at both P1 and P4 when compared with NG. e Representative image of apoptotic cells (caspase 3-postive, magenta) in the cortex of both NG and IUGR at P1 and P4 (scale bar = 200 μm; DAPI, blue). f IUGR displayed higher apoptotic cell counts at both ages investigated. g Cellular proliferation was observed using Ki67 (scale bar = 50 μm). IUGR displayed higher expression at P1, while there was an observed increase in Ki67-postive cells in P4 NG brains (h). For a IUGR (P1 and P4 n = 6) and NG (P1 n = 5; P4 n = 6). Values are presented as mean ± SEM. Two-way ANOVA with Sidak post-hoc test, significance between IUGR and age-matched NG *p < 0.05; **p < 0.005; ***p < 0.001; ****p < 0.0001