Figure 3.
A–J, Abnormal axonal swellings/spheroids representing degenerative axons are present in the spinal cord of moca −/− mice at the age of 20 months (B, D, F ) but not in the age-matched controls (A, C, E). These abnormal axonal spheroids contain aggregates of neurofilaments. The coronal sections of the spinal cord are stained with different neurofilament antibodies including NF-68 (A, B), which recognizes the NF light chain; SMI-31 (C, D), which recognizes phosphorylated NF heavy chain; and SMI-32 (E, F ), which recognizes nonphosphorylated NF heavy chain. G, Closer views of axonal spheroids of different sizes. H, Western blotting patterns of NFs from different brain regions of control (+/+) and moca−/− (−/−) mice. CTX, cerebral cortex; STR, striatum; CB, cerebellum; SC, spinal cord. Arrows indicate the degraded products of nonphosphorylated NF-200. GAPDH is the loading control. I, J, Activation of microglia in moca−/− mice. The activation of microglia is present in the spinal cord of moca−/− (J ) but not in control (I ) mice at the age of 20 months. Scale bar, 50 μm.