Sections were then incubated with anti-rabbit secondary antibody for 2 h. After PBS washes, sections were then incubated with either anti-S100, anti-N52, anti-pan NaV, or anti-MAG antibody overnight. After 2 h incubation with anti-mouse secondary antibody, followed by PBS washes, sections were then counterstained with Hoeschst for 2 min. The slides were then rinsed with distilled water before final mounting in PBS glycerol (1:8). For P0 and JAM-C double labeling, sections were first treated with ice-cold methanol (–20°C) for 10 min. After incubation with the P0 primary antibody followed by Alexa Fluor 568, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical sections were incubated with the JAM-C primary antibody, followed
by incubation with Alexa Fluor 488. For double labeling after lectin staining, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical NGS was applied for 1 h after 15-min jacalin application, and was then followed by primary and secondary antibodies using routine methods as described above. Specificity was confirmed in controls by incubating with secondary antibodies after omission of the primary antibodies. The characteristics of the anti-JAM-C antibody have been reported previously (Lamagna et al. 2005a) and its specificity has also been tested using JAM-C Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical KO mice (Scheiermann et al. 2007, 2009). Sections were viewed on a Leica click here epifluorescence microscope (Wetzlar, Germany) using appropriate filter blocks (TRITC, FITC, or DAPI). Images were taken using a Hamamatsu C4742–95
digital camera (Herrsching, Germany) and the Leica QWin program (Leica, Germany).
Figures were prepared using Adobe Photoshop CS2. Morphometric and quantitative analysis In the injured rat sciatic nerve, the crush site was relatively easy to identify based Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical on the marked reductions of P0, N52, or JAM-C staining. P0 images were taken at ×20 objective magnification at three areas: namely 1.4-, 4.0-, and 6.6 mm distal to the crush site. Images were also taken 1.4 mm proximal to the crush site. The Leica QWin software was used to quantify the P0 immunostained myelin by converting the camera image into a binary image of the P0 labeling. Three measuring frames of identical size (640 μm × 640 μm) were then Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical randomly applied onto each image, and the percentage of the measuring frames covered by this binary image was determined. The mean of these three measures was then determined heptaminol for each area per animal. Regions were analyzed from at least three sections per animal. In some distal nerve areas, myelin debris was manually excluded in Photoshop and then the above quantification performed. This method of analysis was chosen because P0 labeling was too extensive to allow for unambiguous identification of individual axons and myelin. However the analysis does not distinguish between decreased P0 labeling due to thin myelin, and decreased P0 labeling due to decreased space occupied by myelinated nerve fibers. For analysis of JAM-C localization, images were taken at ×40 objective magnification at each location as described above.