Figure 1.

EGFP-NF-M assembly in transfected SW13− cells and 7-d-old primary rat cortical neurons. (a and b) SW13− cells cotransfected with EGFP-NF-M and NF-L; a shows NF-L and b shows EGFP-NF-M. (c and d) SW13− cells cotransfected with NF-L and NF-M; c shows NF-L and d shows NF-M. (e and f) SW13− cells transfected with NF-L, NF-M, NF-H, and EGFP-NF-M; e shows NF-L and f shows EGFP-NF-M. (g and h) Rat cortical neurons transfected with EGFP-NF-M; g shows NF-L and h shows EGFP-NF-M. Although only NF-L and EGFP-NF-M staining are shown in e and f, staining of similarly transfected cells with antibodies to either NF-L and NF-M, NF-L or NF-H, and EGFP-NF-M and NF-H revealed that >90% of cells express both plasmids. Thus, most cells appear to take up and express all three neurofilament subunits in these experiments. Bars, 25 μm.