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. 2011 Jul 11;6(7):e22031. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0022031

Figure 1. Generation of a novel transgenic mouse with mitochondria labeled uniquely in motor neurons.

Figure 1

(A) Schematic of Hb9-MitoEGFP transgene. (B) Immunoblot of spinal cord homogenates of Hb9-MitoEGFP founders (F34, F17, F36, F20) and F34 sublines probed for EGFP and tubulin (loading control). (C–G) MitoEGFP (green) expression in spinal cord motor neurons (C & D), sciatic nerve (E), and L5 motor axons (F & G) labeled with SMI32 (C, red), cytochrome c (D & F, red), and Fluoromyelin Red (F & G, blue/red). Note that mitochondria have typical tubular and punctate morphologies and MitoEGFP expression is excluded from Schwann cells. (G & H) 15% of large caliber (>4.5 µm) L5 motor axons express MitoEGFP in 12 months animal. The expected biphasic distribution of axonal caliber in adult C57Bl/6 mice is indicated in the upper right corner. Comparison of axonal and somal mitochondrial length (I), width (J) and aspect ratio (K) in Hb9-MitoEGFP mice. Scale bars, 10 µm.