Fig. 5: NANOG improves overlap between neuronal synaptic vesicles and muscle AChRs following transection.
From: Skeletal muscle reprogramming enhances reinnervation after peripheral nerve injury
A Confocal images of NMJs 5 and 16 weeks after transection using whole mount immunocytochemistry labeled for presynaptic axons and synaptic vesicles (green) and postsynaptic AChRs (Red). Regions of overlap between pre- and post-synaptic regions are yellow. WT mice frequently demonstrate poor overlap between synaptic vesicles and AChRs (arrows). Multiple innervations were also seen in WT mice (asterisks). NANOG mice showed pre- vs. post-synaptic overlap similar to NMJs from control non-transected limbs. Scale bar = 20 µm. Quantification for percentage of colocalization between synaptic vesicles and AChRs at (B) 5 weeks and (C) at 16 weeks; each point in the dispersion plot represents a single NMJ from n = 6 biological replicates per condition. For 5 weeks dataset: n = 11 for Control Non-Transected, n = 9 for WT Transected, n = 22 for NANOG Transected. For 16 weeks dataset: n = 26 for Control non-transected, n = 22 for WT transected, n = 45 for NANOG transected. D Confocal images of NMJs 5 and 16 weeks after transection in muscle cross-sections labeled for presynaptic axons and synaptic vesicles (green) and postsynaptic AChRs (red). Regions of overlap between pre- and post-synaptic regions are yellow. WT mice frequently demonstrate poor overlap between synaptic vesicles and AChRs (arrows). NANOG mice showed overlap similar to NMJs from control non-transected limbs. Scale bar = 20 µm. Quantification for percentage of colocalization between synaptic vesicles and AChRs at (E) 5 weeks and (F) 16 weeks after nerve injury; each point in the dispersion plot represents a single NMJ from n = 6 biological replicates per condition. For 5 weeks dataset: n = 103 NMJs for Control Non-Transected, n = 116 NMJs for WT Transected, n = 95 NMJs for NANOG Transected. For 16 weeks dataset: n = 520 NMJs for Control non-transected, n = 453 NMJs for WT transected, n = 556 NMJs for NANOG transected. All data are presented as Mean ± SEM. Statistical analysis performed using two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison test for all graphs. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
