Fig. 4. Node-spine contacts are largely stable.
a Time-lapse STED imaging of a spine (magenta) and a node (green) over 150 min acquired every 30 min. While contacting node can move on the spine surface, the overall contact is maintained. b Comparison between spine motility index and contacting nodes. Motility index of the node was significantly higher than that of spines (n = 18 structures from 5 slices; Paired t-test, ****p (two-tailed) < 0.0001). c Changes of coverage state over time normalized to the coverage state at 0 min (n = 18 spines from 5 slices). d Correlation between fluctuation (the temporal variance of coverage fraction) and spine head area (n = 18 spines from 5 slices; Spearman r = −0.5947, p (two-tailed) = 0.0092. Large node/large spine contact was more stable. e Correlation between spine head size and spine motility index. Large spines were less motile than small spines (n = 18 spines from 5 slices; Pearson R2 = 0.24, p (two-tailed) = 0.039).