Fig. 2.

Age-related decline in ‘ventral targeting’ and functional restoration. (A) RI values corresponding to the ‘non-fusion’ events at 24 h post-axotomy performed at different stages of adulthood. N (independent replicates)=3-8. (B) The percentage of ‘ventral targeting’ events at L4 and A3 stages. N=3-9. (C) Regrowth length corresponding to the ‘cumulated non-fusion’ events termed as ‘pooled,’ ‘ventral’ and ‘non-ventral’ events at 24 h post-axotomy. N=4-5. (D) RI values corresponding to the ‘ventral’ and ‘non-ventral’ regrowth events at L4 and A3 stages. N=6-9. (E) Examples of ‘ventral targeting’ events after axotomy at L4 and A3 stages. The worms are expressing Pmec-4::mCherry::RAB-3 [tbIs227] and Pmec-7::GFP [muIs32] reporters. The arrowheads indicate the RAB-3 enrichment along the VNC. ‘Cm’ represents the co-injection GFP-reporter in coelomocyte. The depth-coded images of the GFP channel were separately presented to highlight the regrowth along the VNC (double-headed yellow arrows). Insets show an enlarged view of the region inside the yellow dashed box. The red arrow indicates the site of injury. (F) Comparison of the longitudinal regrowth along the VNC (double-headed yellow arrows) at 24 h post-axotomy. N=3-4. (G) The ratio of mCherry::RAB-3 intensity normalized to the GFP intensity from the ROIs at the tip of the regenerated axon as shown in E. N=5. Data are mean±s.d. **P<0.01; ***P<0.001; ns, non-significant [ANOVA with Tukey's multiple comparisons test (A,C,D); Fisher's exact test (B); Mann–Whitney unpaired non-parametric two-tailed Student's t-test (F,G)].