Figure 3

Islet NCAM and TH axon counts and morphometry in T1D. (a) Maximum intensity projection of a confocal islet image from a control donor stained by NCAM (red), TH (green), and glucagon (GCG, blue) in a fixed frozen section. A merged image (left upper) with boxed inset for higher detail of intra-islet axons. Single channel images for NCAM and TH show TH axons traveling with NCAM axons into an islet. Scale bar 50 µm. (b) NCAM axons per islet were counted (n = 185 islets in 6 ND donors, n = 93 islets in 4 AAb donors, n = 118 islets in 4 T1D donors). (c) TH axons per islet were counted (n = 185 islets in 6 ND donors, n = 93 islets in 4 AAb donors, n = 118 islets in 4 T1D donors). *p = 0.05 AAb vs. T1D. (d) NCAM axon density within islets was analyzed using ImageJ (n = 167 islets in 6 ND donors, n = 85 islets in 4 AAb donors, n = 93 islets in 4 T1D donors). (e) TH axon density within islets was analyzed using ImageJ (n = 167 islets in 6 ND donors, n = 85 islets in 4 AAb donors, n = 93 islets in 4 T1D donors). *p = 0.05 AAb vs. T1D. Data are presented as mean ± SD per donor. All statistical significance values were determined using nested 1-way ANOVA with multiple comparisons. See also Supplementary Fig. S2.