Fig. 4

Estrogen receptor β activation leads to an upregulation of presynaptic proteins in an apolipoprotein E (ApoE) isoform-dependent manner. Three-month-old human ApoE2, ApoE3, and ApoE4 gene-targeted replacement female mice were treated with a phytoestrogenic estrogen receptor β-selective modulator (phyto-β-SERM)-supplemented diet or a control diet for 3 months and killed at the age of 6 months. Cortical tissues were probed for a) synaptophysin and b) synaptobrevin2 immunoreactivity. The integrated density value of the bands in Western blots was determined using densitometry, and data were normalized to an internal loading control (β-tubulin) and to the untreated group of each genotype. Data are shown as mean ± SD (n = 5). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 by Student’s t test