FIG 9.
Laser scanning confocal microscopy for PrPSc and myelin P2 in nerve bundles of the tongue. Laser scanning confocal microscopy for myelin P2 (A, D, and G), PrPSc (B, E, and H), and both myelin P2 and PrPSc (C, F, and I) in nerve bundles in tongue from HY TME-infected hamsters was performed. Panels A through C, D through F, and G through I are the same fields of view within their respective groups. Panels D to F are enlargements of the white boxed area in panel C. In nerve bundles, PrPSc immunofluorescence was observed most frequently within the lumen of the nerve bundle (arrowhead) and also in association with myelin P2 immunofluorescence (arrow) on the lumen wall of the axon. Panels A to C represent a single image that was taken from a three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of an LSCM stack assembled from 64 individual images. Colocalization analysis on 27 separate 3D reconstructions for each PrPSc and cell marker combination revealed that there was an overlap of PrPSc with myelin P2 in nerve bundles (Table 3). Scale bar, 5 μm (A).