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. 2013 Nov 25;8(11):e82546. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0082546

Figure 5. Femoral nerve motor neuron labeling results.

Figure 5

Results of motor neuron labeling by FB (A) and Di-I (B) application to femoral nerve motor and cutaneous divisions, respectively. Double-labeled motor neurons (C) are illustrated by the arrows (merge A+B). The total MN counts (FB + Di-I minus double label) represent the overall degree of attrition of motor neurons that regenerated axons beyond the injury zone. The total Crush f (n=6) group counts dominated over (MN+50g)x2 f (n=4) and Transection+Repair f (n=5) groups with statistical significance (D). FB cell counts of the Sham f (n=5) and Crush f groups showed statistically significant differences compared to the (MN+50g)x2 f, Transection f (n=5) and Transection+Repair f groups, indicating significant motor pathway attrition in the latter groups (E). Percentage motor axons misdirected to the cutaneous division (= Di-I labeled/ Total count x100) was the highest in the Transection f group and together with the (MN+50g)x2 f group, had statistically significant differences from the Shamf, Crushf, MN f (n=6) and MN+50g f (n=6) groups. The Transection f group had also significantly more misdirection compared to the Transection+Repair f group (F); 100µm scale bar (*p<0.05;**p<0.01).