Fig. 1

Establishment of a placental conditional BDNF knockout mouse model. A the cre-loxP system for generating a placental conditional BDNF knockout mouse model. B number and percent of offspring with different genotypes (n = 146). C number and percent of embryos with different genotypes (n = 80). D abnormal cKO(HO) embryos (n = 3). E a representative Western blot image (5 controls and 4 cKO(HE)s) placenta and maternal brain tissues) and the densitometry of BDNF bands in Western blot after normalization to β-actin. F immunohistochemical staining of BDNF in the placenta (n = 3). Data are presented as mean ± SD. * indicates P < 0.05. NS indicates not significant