Figure 4
Effect of gel food on neurodegeneration in TDP-43(A315T) mice. A: The median disease duration increased for both genders from 8 days (d) with normal food (n=37) up to 60d (n=46) by gel food (p<0.0001). B: Disease onset is variable: 99-507d in the females (n=18, median=344d) with normal food, 58-427d in the males (n=22, median=172d); 114-538d (n=38, median=278d) in the females on gel food, 62-366d in the males (n=9, median=118d). The sexual dimorphism stays visible (overall p<0.0001), but there is no significant difference in onset between the mice on normal versus gel food for each gender. C: No difference (p=0.83) between the average number of motor neurons >300μm2 in the lumbar spinal cord for NTG (n=6) versus TDP-43 mice with normal food (n=5) versus gel food (n=5) at ES. D: Significant increase in fully denervated NMJs at ES in the TDP-43 mice on gel food, compared to TDP-43 mice on normal food at ES and NTG mice, n=8/group. E: Gray scale images of the toluidine-blue staining of the white matter of the distal thoracic spinal cord, where the dorsolateral corticospinal tract axon fibers run, shown for a NTG mouse (left), an ES TDP-43 mouse with normal food (middle) and gel food (right). Scale bars: 10μm. F: Histogram of results of the counting of the number of these corticospinal tract axons and their fiber size (n=4/group): the subsequent groups represent a fiber size of 5-15μm2 (bin center 10), 15-25μm2 (bin center 20) and 25–35μm2 (bin center 30). Statistical analysis showed a significant difference in number of fibers (p<0.0001 for comparison between all group with chi-square test and Bonferroni correction). G: Immunostaining with GFAP of the ventral horn of the spinal cord of a TDP-43 mouse with normal food (upper) compared to gel food (lower) at ES. Scale bars: 50μm.