Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Dec 8.
Published in final edited form as: Neuron. 2011 Dec 8;72(5):760–775. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.09.031

Figure 3. eiger Suppresses ank2-Dependent Degeneration Despite Persistent Cellular Stresses.

Figure 3

(A–D) Representative images of individual third-instar nerve bundles stained for the neuronal membrane marker HRP (red) and the active zone marker Brp (green), which accumulates in ank2 mutant axons. All images were taken at the same time with the same exposure conditions. (A) Wild-type nerve bundle with no visible Brp accumulations. (B) egr mutant nerve bundle that looks similar to wild-type with no visible Brp accumulations. (C) ank2 nerve bundle showing significant amounts of Brp accumulations. (D) Nerve bundle from a double homozygous mutant for both egr and ank2, showing significant axonal Brp accumulations. Total Brp fluorescence intensity integrated over total nerve area is the following: wt = w1118 (n = 17 nerve bundles; average 8.16 arbitrary units); egr = egrΔ25/egrΔ25 (n = 17 nerve bundles; average 10.54 arbitrary units); ank2 = ank22001/ank22001 (n = 21 nerve bundles; average 30.6 arbitrary units); egr; ank2 = egrΔ25/egrΔ25; ank22001/ank22001 (n = 17 nerve bundles; average 31.6 arbitrary units). ank2 and egr; ank2 both have significantly more Brp total fluo-rescence than either wild-type or egr mutants alone (p < 0.001). The p values were determined using one-way ANOVA with post hoc Tukey-Kramer. Statistical differences remain when comparisons are made using Student’s t test.

(E–H) Representative images of third-instar muscle 6/7 NMJs stained for the neuronal microtubule-associated protein Futsch (green), the presynaptic membrane marker HRP (blue), and the postsynaptic marker Dlg (red). Insets show Futsch staining only. (E) A wild-type NMJ shows an elongated and organized Futsch-positive microtubule cytoskeleton. (F) An NMJ lacking Eiger protein (egrΔ25) also shows an elongated and organized Futsch-positive microtubule cytoskeleton. (G) An NMJ mutant for ank2 shows disorganized Futsch staining with accumulations within boutons. (H) Animals that are mutant for both egr and ank2 do not restore microtubule organization.