Figure 1.

For NPY-Y1 receptor quantification upper motor neurons were visualized with the neurofilament protein SMI32 in human motor cortex (a), or with the fluorescent protein YFP-H in YFP-H rodent motor cortex, and reconstructed from z-stack images using Imaris software. Z-stack image showing an SMI32-positive upper motor neuron in post-mortem human tissue (green) labelled with the NPY-Y1 receptor (red) and the neuronal marker Nissl (blue) (b). NPY-Y1 receptor puncta/µm³ was determined on three-dimensional (3D) rendered neurons (purple) (c) using spot detection algorithms (d). Imaris object detection feature allowed for isolation of cell soma (c) or apical process compartments for puncta analysis per volume of object reconstructed. Insert in (d) shows synaptic puncta detected using Imaris. Scale bars = 20 µm.