Fig. 2.

A rapid onset form of Wallerian degeneration in the adult cortex. a Representative images of a long axon ending undergoing Wallerian degeneration (WD) with time post-lesion and percentage of axon lost indicated. b Representative images of a shorter axon ending undergoing rapid onset WD (roWD) with time post-lesion and percentage of axon lost indicated. c Scatter plot indicating the presence of two axonal populations with different onset time of fragmentation. d Surviving length of each in vivo injured axon (n = 38) over the time points indicated illustrating a population undergoing roWD (blue lines). e Histogram demonstrating significant early onset time of fragmentation of axons < 600 μm in length (roWD, blue) compared to longer axons (WD, grey). Mean ± SEM. Mann Whitney U test. ****p < 0.0001. f, g No correlation between roWD onset time and length (f, n = 21 axons < 600 μm from 13 mice, p > 0.05) or for longer axons undergoing WD (g, n = 17 axons > 600 μm from 14 mice, p > 0.05). Scale bar: 135 μm (a), 70 μm (b). For further examples of fragmenting axons as in panels a-b, see Additional file 1