Table 2 Overview of NMJ morphological features.
From: NMJ-Analyser identifies subtle early changes in mouse models of neuromuscular disease
NMJ component | Features | |
|---|---|---|
Nerve terminal/motor endplate | ||
Integrity | Cluster_dist | Average distance between fragments or clusters |
Cluster_size | Average size of clusters | |
Cluster_numbers | Number of cluster or fragments | |
Fragmentation | Fragmentation index (1–1/Cluster numbers) | |
Shape | Non-compactness | Measures how non compact an NMJ component is |
Shape factor | Numerical description of the 3D shape of an NMJ component and its relation of becoming a more irregular shape | |
Rugosity, internal | Number of internal faces, internal irregularity | |
Rugosity, external | Number of external faces, external irregularity | |
Size | Length (μm) | Distance between the major-axis endpoints |
Surface/volume ratio | Measures the amount of surface per unit of volume of an NMJ component | |
Surface | Measures the 3D geometrical uppermost layer of an NMJ component. It is also known as surface area of the tridimensional surface | |
Volume (μm3) | Measures the amount of spaces occupied by an NMJ component | |
Pre- and post-synaptic | ||
Interaction | Coverage | Volume of nerve terminal staining as percentage of endplate volume |
Intersection | Area of intersecting area between NMJ components, overlapping | |
Average dist | Distance between NMJ components | |
Mass-distance | Distance between centre of mass | |
Hausdorff distance | Maximum distance between the nearest point between NMJ components | |
