Fig. 13

4E6 reduced the spread of tau between neurons. a, b Schematic of microfluidic chambers, showing the reservoirs that the cells were added to. Panel B is a magnification of the box in panel A showing the microgrooves which connect the two reservoirs. c Confocal image showing axons growing through the microgrooves. Cell is stained with pan-tau antibody. (scale bar = 150 μm) d–f Fluorescently labeled PHF material (1 μg/ml) was added to the chamber containing JNPL3 cells. Coverslips were fixed and stained with an antibody recognizing total tau. Stained wild-type neurons from the opposite chamber are visualized in d, and one of them has prominent PHF puncta in the cell body as seen in E. Merged image of d and e is depicted in F (scale bar = 50). g Neurons in the first chamber were treated with PHF and 4E6 in combination as described in Fig. 4b. Following addition of the antibody, cells were incubated for a further 72 h. Number of cells in the opposite side containing PHF puncta was recorded. Botulinum toxin was used as a negative control. In the PHF alone condition, 24 % of cells were PHF positive. Incubation with botulinum toxin reduced this percentage to 4 % (p < 0.01). In the PHF + Ab group this was reduced to 14.6 % (p < 0.05), and 17.6 % in the PHF → Ab condition. *: p < 0.05, **: p < 0.01