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. 2014 Feb 5;9(2):e87840. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0087840

Figure 2. Effects of anti-MuSK IgG and albuterol treatment upon AChR staining intensity.

Figure 2

Transverse sections of the diaphragm and tibialis anterior muscles collected on day 15 of the IgG injection series were stained for motor endplate AChR with Alexa488-α-bungarotoxin. (A) Typical bright, crescent-shaped AChR staining of two endplates in the diaphragm muscle of a healthy naive mouse (no treatment). Scale bar = 20 µm. (B–C) Dim AChR staining of endplates from mice that received injections of anti-MuSK IgG and were treated with either vehicle (B) or 8 mg/kg/day albuterol (C). (D) Intensity of endplate staining for AChR (mean pixel intensity) in the tibialis anterior muscle of naive mice and mice that received 15 daily injections of anti-MuSK IgG, with or without albuterol treatment (8 mg/kg/day). (E) Intensity of endplate AChR staining in the diaphragm muscle of the same mice. (F) Counts of the number of AChR-stained endplates per microscope field in the diaphragm muscle of healthy naive mice, or mice injected with anti-MuSK IgG and treated with albuterol (8 mg/kg/day), or vehicle. Counts were made by an operator who was blind to the treatment group of the photomicrographs. Data in D, E and F represent the mean ± SEM for n = 3 mice (*P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001; one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni’s multiple comparison post-test).