Fig. 5

Alterations in the NMJ postsynaptic domain after nerve damage. a Different morphologies of the NMJ postsynaptic apparatuses were categorized as mature pretzel-like (green), collapsed (red), and fragmented morphologies that were in turn sub-classified as fragmented smooth (blue) and fragmented blurred (purple). b The proportion of pretzel-like (green bars), fragmented (grey bars), and collapsed (red bars) NMJ postsynaptic morphologies was calculated in control mice and 7, 30, 45, 60, and 90 days after nerve resection. c The proportion of smooth (blue line) and blurred fragmented (purple dashed line) morphologies in LAL muscles from control and nerve-injured mice at different times are expressed as the percentage of total fragmented NMJs. d The stability of postsynaptic domains of smooth (upper panel) and blurred fragmented (lower panel) structures after nerve resection was calculated after the two-color BTX assay. e Fluorescence intensity ratio between BTX-2 and BTX-1 of smooth and blurred fragmented morphologies after nerve resection injury. Values were normalized to the average ratio of smooth fragmented structures. f The proportion of pretzel-like (green bars), fragmented (grey bars), and collapsed (red bars) NMJ postsynaptic morphologies was calculated in control mice and at different times after nerve crush injury. g Smooth (blue line) and blurred fragmented (purple dashed line) morphologies were quantified in LAL muscles from control and nerve-injured mice at different times and are expressed as the percentage of total fragmented NMJs. h The stability of postsynaptic domains of smooth (upper panel) and blurred fragmented (lower panel) structures after nerve cut was calculated after the two-color BTX assay. i Fluorescence intensity ratio between BTX-2 and BTX-1 of smooth and blurred fragmented morphologies after nerve crush injury. Values were normalized to the average ratio of smooth fragmented structures. The results are represented as the mean ± SEM (N: 3–4 mice; 2 female plus 1–2 male mice). For the stability analysis more than 30 NMJs of 3–4 different animals were quantified in each condition. **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001; ****p < 0.0001, two-way ANOVA (b, c, e, g), or t-test (d, i)