Fig. 4: ER enlargement of neurons in 5xFAD mice and human MCI/AD patients.

a Electron microscopy of neurons in control (B6/SJL) and 5xFAD mice. Marked ER enlargement was observed in 5xFAD mice at 5 months of age before the onset. b Electron microscopy of neurons in non-neurological disease control, MCI (Braak stage III by Gallyas-Braak staining) and AD (Braak stage V) patients. Higher magnification in two subcellular fields reveal ribosomes attached to vacuoles (arrow). Amyloid plaque in AD patient is shown (asterisk). Quantitative analysis of three groups is shown in the graph. The bar graph indicates average and mean ± S.E.M., together with the corresponding data points. P-values were determined by Tukey’s HSD test, **p < 0.01 (N = 3 persons, n = 100 cells). c A high magnification image of ballooned ER. Ribosomes on ER membrane help identification of the origin of the medium-size ERs (black ER), while ribosomes were detached when ER lumen was further enlarged and only a few ribosomes were remained (white ER). Mt: mitochondria. Nuc: nucleus. d Calnexin and MAP2 or KDEL and MAP2 co-staining of human neurons of non-neurological disease (control), MCI and AD patients. Remarkable enlargement of ER was detected (arrow) in MCI more frequently than in AD. e Calnexin and MAP2 or KDEL and MAP2 co-staining of mouse neurons of 5xFAD mice at 3 and 6 months of age. Remarkable enlargement of ER was detected (arrow) at 3 months more frequently than at 6 months. Source data are provided as a “Source Data file”.