Fig. 1

GDE2 is haploinsufficient in SOD1^G93A transgenic animals. A-D Transverse sections of 14 week lumbar spinal cord ventral horns stained with H&E. Yellow boxes are magnified in lower panels, highlighting vacuolated and shrunken neuronal morphology in Gde2^+/−;SOD1^G93A mice. No morphological changes are seen in Gde2^+/−;SOD1^WT ventral horn neurons. Scale bar = 50 μm (A-D) or 15 μm (insets). E Box and whisker plot of neuronal soma sizes. Open circles are large diameter cells above the 95^th percentile gates. Open triangles are > 3 times larger than the 75^th percentile. Gde2^+/−;SOD1^G93A neurons are reduced in size compared to Gde2^+/+;SOD1^G93A controls, Kruskal–Wallis test (*p < 0.01). Gde2^+/−;SOD1^WT neurons are indistinguishable from Gde2^+/+;SOD1^WT controls, Kruskal–Wallis test (p = 0.588). No changes are detected in soma size between Gde2^+/+;SOD1^G93A and Gde2^+/+;SOD1^WT as expected at this timepoint [45]. F Cumulative probability distribution of vacuole sizes. Gde2^+/−;SOD1^G93A spinal cords contain larger vacuoles, Kolmogorov-Smirnoff test (p = 0.04). n = 4 Gde2^+/+;SOD1^G93A, 3 Gde2^+/−;SOD1^G93A, 3 Gde2^+/+;SOD1^WT, 4 Gde2^+/−;SOD1^WT