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. 2014 Aug 1;9(8):e103977. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0103977

Figure 2. Incidences of KP-, NKB- and CART-IR perikarya and axon varicosities in the Inf.

Figure 2

Pie charts in A and B illustrate the relative incidences of different labeling patterns, expressed as percentages of the total number of (KP and/or NKB)-IR neuronal elements (cell bodies in A and fiber varicosities in B; %±SEM of five postmenopausal women). Note in A that the three most frequently encountered perikaryon phenotypes, in order, co-contains KP and NKB and is devoid of CART [purple color; 32.4±4.5% of all (KP and/or NKB)-IR neurons], contains NKB signal only [blue color; 26.9±4.4% of all (KP and/or NKB)-IR neurons] or contains NKB, KP and CART together [white color; 24.0±4.1% of all (KP and/or NKB)-IR neurons]. Chart in B illustrates the mean incidences of the distinct types of axon varicosities, out of which single-labeled NKB fibers represent the most frequently encountered phenotype. Note that, in general, neuropeptide signals are coexpressed less frequently in axons than in cell bodies (compare B to A). Column graphs in C–F illustrate the percentages of KP-IR (C, E) and NKB-IR (D, F) neuronal elements (cell bodies in C–D and fiber varicosities in E–F) that are single-, double-, and triple-labeled. As shown in C, 78.4±2.9% of KP-IR cell bodies also contain NKB, 47.9±6.6% contain CART and 33.3±4.9% are triple-labeled. On the other hand, 66.5±5.1% of NKB-IR perikarya also contain KP, 30.0±4.9%, contain CART and 28.2±4.6% are triple-labeled (D). Regarding KP-IR fiber varicosities, 54.9±5.4% contain NKB, 17.0±2.3% contain CART and 14.3±1.8% are triple-labeled (E), whereas out of all NKB-IR axon varicosities, 23.1±9.0% contain KP, 6.2±2.0% contain CART signal and 5.9±2.0% are triple-labeled for KP/CART/NKB (F).