Figure 1.

Dynamic mechanical stretch of isolated cortical axons. A, B) Schematic illustration of axonal stretch injury model. Axon-only region of the elastic membrane overlaps with a 2- × 15-mm slit at the bottom of an airtight chamber. A controlled air pulse deflects the elastic membrane downward, thus inducing a tensile elongation exclusively of axons. C) Phase-contrast photomicrograph of the axon-only region, formed by a silicone stamp that creates microchannels permitting only axon outgrowth across the channels. D) Fluorescence microscopic confirmation that the neurites in the microchannels were axons demonstrated by immunoreactivity to neurofilament protein (NF, green), while immunoreactivity to microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2, red), a specific marker for the dendrites, was found only outside the channels. Scale bar = 100 μm.