Figure 5.

Blocking axonal Na⁺ influx with TTX prevents loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. (a) Representative images of axons in the different treatment groups. The upper left image shows mitochondrial membrane potential in untreated condition. Oxidative stress led to loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (upper right image) and a shift to green fluorescence. TTX prevented the H₂O₂ effects (lower left image). The lower right image shows that the application of TTX alone led to preserved mitochondrial membrane potential. (b) Data represent normalized values of individual mitochondria to the mean of the control group (red/green ratio = 1 ± 0.0383). ^∗∗∗∗p ≤ 0.0001. The error bars represent the standard error of mean; n = 3 animals and 12 roots; untreated 3 roots, H₂O₂ 3 roots, H₂O₂+1 μM TTX 3 roots, and 1 μM TTX 3 roots.