Plastic Changes in the Spinal Cord in Motor Neuron Disease
Figure 3
Nestin immunostaining within lamina X. Representative pictures are reported in (a) showing that lamina X shows neglectable nestin-immunofluorescence in WT mice (both WT Sal or WT Li). In contrast, nestin immunostaining is well evident within the lamina X from ALS mice (both G93A Sal and G93A Li). In particular, in G93A mice treated with saline nestin-positive fibers between the ependymal cells appear to project from the ependymal canal into lamina X, where only a few cells appear labelled. In contrast, in G93A mice treated with lithium nestin immunofluorescence is dramatic and involves both the ependymal cells and stem-like cells within the entire lamina X (arrows). (b) The graph reports the count of nestin-positive cells in both lamina X and ependymal canal. * compared with other groups. Scale bar = 26 μm.
