Figure 12.

Astrocyte morphological changes in prion-diseased adult and aged mice. (a) Cluster analysis and (b) canonical distribution of discriminant analysis. Note the clear distinction between NBH and ME7 young adults in both cluster and discriminant canonical analysis. Branch volume was the morphometric feature that most contributed to the cluster formation. However, ME7-A and NBH-EE control mice occupy the same cluster in the dendrogram, suggesting that prion disease in aged mice did not alter astrocyte morphology as it did in adult mice. (c) Soma volumes estimated by the nucleator method are linearly correlated with branch and volumes.