TABLE 2.

Colocalization of PrP^Sc and cell-type-specific markers in HY TME-infected hamster tongue

Antibodya	Regionb	Average overlap coefficient (MOC)c		HY TME M2 coefficientd
		Mock	HY TME
PGP 9.5	LP	0.017 ± 0.008	0.147 ± 0.023*	0.78
SNAP-25	LP	0.185 ± 0.082	0.083 ± 0.027	NA
Synaptobrevin-2	LP	0.045 ± 0.149	0.223 ± 0.063*	0.65
PGP 9.5	TB	0.005 ± 0.003	0.081 ± 0.012*	0.36
SNAP-25	TB	0.022 ± 0.008	0.097 ± 0.013*	0.44
Synaptobrevin-2	TB	0.037 ± 0.009	0.134 ± 0.028*	0.52
α-Gustducin	TB	0.049 ± 0.015	0.033 ± 0.012	NA
PGP 9.5	SSE	0.021 ± 0.007	0.148 ± 0.011*	0.73
SNAP-25	SSE	0.007 ± 0.003	0.014 ± 0.010	NA
Synaptobrevin-2	SSE	0.068 ± 0.020	0.131 ± 0.025	NA
Cytokeratin	SSE	0.031 ± 0.007	0.077 ± 0.004*	0.95

^aAntibodies used in conjunction with anti-PrP monoclonal 3F4 antibody for confocal microscopy studies.

^bConfocal images were cropped to either the lamina propria (LP), taste bud (TB), or stratified squamous epithelium (SSE) for colocalization analysis.

^cOverlap coefficient after Manders ± standard error of the mean, n = 10. *, P ≤ 0.005, using Student's t test or the Mann-Whitney rank sum test. A P value of <0.05 indicated a significant difference between the mock- and HY TME-infected groups.

^dColocalization coefficient M2 indicates the percentage of PrP^Sc that overlaps with the cell-type-specific marker in the region of analysis in HY TME-infected hamster tongue. NA, not applicable since there was no statistical difference between HY TME- and mock-infected groups.