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Fig. 6 | Acta Neuropathologica Communications

Fig. 6

From: Progression of motor neuron disease is accelerated and the ability to recover is compromised with advanced age in rNLS8 mice

Fig. 6

Functional motor recovery is likely diminished in rNLS8 mice because of impairments at the NMJ. a-b Representative pictures of sciatic nerves from a young (a) and aged (b) rNLS8 mice after 12 wks of transgene suppression, cut transversely at 1 μm and stained with toluidine blue and imaged by light microscopy at 40× to show axon morphology. The black arrowheads point to degenerating axons in the aged sciatic nerve section. c-f At the EM level, NMJ ultrastructural differences are apparent between the young and aged recovered rNLS8 mice. c-d While the TA of the young rNLS8 mouse still has junctional folds that are arranged in an organized way, mostly linearly, (see red arrow in c) the aged junctional folds are more often highly disorganized (see red arrow in d). Further, the NMJs of the young animal were more often completely re-innervated, whereas many of the junctional folds of the aged animal were only partially supplied by a nerve. e-f The synaptic vesicles were packed much more densely in the nerve terminal of the aged mouse (* in f) compared to the young mouse (* in e). Scale bars, 500 nm

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