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. 2018 Mar;111:70–79. doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2017.12.016

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

RARβ activation leads to NG2 + cells wrapping around regenerating axons and RARβ up-regulation at the axonal tip. (a) Representative image of the morphological areas studied: Dorsal root entry zone (DREZ) and adjacent spinal cord (SC) and dorsal roots (DR) of the injured rats with the pia boundary delineated in red. (b) Schematic representation of the area used for imaging and quantifications. (c) Expression of NG2 + cells in vehicle and RARβ agonist treated avulsed rats at the PNS-CNS interphase. Scale bar is 100 μm. (d) Higher magnification images of the insets delineated in (a) showing the morphological differences of NG2 + cells and the axonal tips in the two groups: NG2 + cells wrap around the axons at the DREZ in the regenerating SC whereas in vehicle treated rats, axonal tips are seen surrounded by arborized NG2 + cells processes. Scale bar is 30 μm. (e) Images obtained from different sections from the same treatment groups, showing a transversal plane of the positioning of the NG2 + cells and the axons at the DREZ. Scale bar is 15 μm. (f and g) RARβ is up-regulated in the axons at the dorsal horn in the RARβ agonist treated animals but absent in the NG2 + cells (h). (i) Live cell imaging of RARβ2 transfected cortical neurons over 10 hour post-treatment. Scale bar is 100 μm.