Accumulation of Misfolded SOD1 in Dorsal Root Ganglion Degenerating Proprioceptive Sensory Neurons of Transgenic Mice with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Figure 2

Degenerative changes in motor and dorsal axons were highlighted using Mac-2 immunolabeling (green), as a marker for activate macrophage infiltration, and p75 (a low affinity neurotrophin receptor that is upregulated in denervated Schwann cells) immunofluorescence (red). These two proteins were barely visible in the VRs ((a)–(c)) and DRs ((g)–(i)) (delimited by dashed lines) from WT animals. In contrast, Mac-2 and p75 were markedly upregulated in both the VRs ((d)–(f)) and DRs ((j)–(l)). The density of Mac-2 positive cells was quantified at different postnatal ages (m); the bars in the graph represent the mean ± SEM values for counts performed in 5 nerve roots (L4) of 3 animals per age and experimental condition; ^∗∗∗𝑃<0.001 versus its respective WT nerve root (one-way ANOVA, Bonferroni’s post-hoc test). VR: ventral nerve root, DR: dorsal nerve root. Scale bars: 150 μm in (c) and (i) (valid for (a), (b), (g), and (h)), 50 μm in (f), and (g) (valid for (d), (e), (j), and (k)).

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