Fig. 7

PBMT-activated Smad2/3 interacts with Smad4 and upregulates Dcx expression and competitively inhibit GFAP expression in APP/PS1 mice. a Western blotting analyzes the Dcx, GFAP, p-Smad2/3, and p-Smad1/5/9 protein expression levels of WT and APP/PS1 mice after PBMT. b Statistical analysis results of Dcx and GFAP protein expression in hippocampus of WT and APP/PS1 mice after PBMT 1 month, and phosphorylation levels of Smad2/3 and Smad1/5/9 within 30 min after PBMT (n = 4 per group). c, d Representative images of colocalization of p-Smad2/3 with Smad4 (c) and representative images of colocalization of p-Smad1/5/9 with Smad4 (d) in brain tissue of WT and APP/PS1 mice after PBMT 1 month. Scale bar, 20 μm (the magnify image scale bar is 5 μm). All quantifications are presented as mean ± SEM and were analyzed by one-way ANOVA test; **p < 0.01 versus control group; ^##p < 0.01 versus indicated group