Fig. 4

Electron microscopy (EM) and immunofluorescence labeling of murine sciatic nerve. EM pictures of cross sections from WT (A–D (and CD59a-deficient (E–H) murine sciatic nerve at different ages. A and E are low-resolution toluidine blue pictures from a 6-month-old mouse. Scale bars: A and E 50 μm, B and F 10 μm, C, D, G and H 5 μm. I–L EM (higher magnification) showing accumulation of axoplasmatic organelles at an older age (18 months) in longitudinal sections from the paranodal regions (I, J, scale bars: I 2 μm, J 5 μm), and mitochondria and dense bodies in cross sections at regions with of noncompact myelin (K, scale bar = 500 nm; I–K are from CD59 KO mice). WT vs CD59 KO mice, comparison of the percentage of nodes of Ranvier with accumulation of axoplasmic organelles is shown in L (WT: n = 5, 82 nodes. KO: n = 5, 117 nodes; (p = 0.01, unpaired two-tailed student’s t-tests). M–P Immunofluorescence labeling of WT (left panels) and CD59 KO (right panels) teased fibers show normal node structure by CD59 (green) and AnkG (M, red), Caspr (N, red), neurofascin (O, Nfasc, blue), and myelin-associated glycoprotein (P, MAG, red). Sections taken from a 4-month-old mouse. Immunolabeling procedure handled with methanol and 0.1% triton. Scale bars 20 μm