Increase in Growth Cone Size Correlates with Decrease in Neurite Growth Rate

Figure 1

Growth cone size decreases between 18 and 78 h in cell culture. (a) Representative differential interference contrast (DIC) images of Aplysia bag cell neurons at 18 h (upper panels) and 78 h (lower panels) after cell plating. Left panels show lower magnification and right panels show higher magnification. P and C domain and T zone are indicated in the upper right image. Arrows point to vesicles in the C domain in the upper right image and to filopodium in the lower right image. (b) Statistical comparison of P domain sizes between 18 h and 78 h, shown in log scale. Average P domain size ± SEM at 18 h is  μm² (); average P domain size at 78 h is  μm² (). Data are pooled from 3 independent experiments. Box: 25th and 75th percentile plus median line; whisker: min and max. . Mann-Whitney test. Scale bar on the left: 60 μm; scale bar on the right: 10 μm.

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