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Fig. 3 | Molecular Neurodegeneration

Fig. 3

From: Tauopathy-associated tau modifications selectively impact neurodegeneration and mitophagy in a novel C. elegans single-copy transgenic model

Fig. 3

Strains with tau mutations mimicking post-translational modifications to T231 and K274/281 display abnormal touch receptor neurite morphology. a Schematic of a hermaphrodite animal. Mechanosensory neurons pairs ALM(R/L) and PLM(R/L) are present on both left and right sides of the animal, but only one of each pair is depicted. In wild type animals, neurites projecting from ALM and PLM do not overlap with each other, but instead divide the animal’s body into two distinct receptive fields, as indicated (modified from 79). b Neurons were visualized using a Pmec-4::mCherry fluorescent reporter. Two animals lying side-by-side are shown here. The top animal is from the phospho-null strain (T231A) and the bottom animal is from the phospho-mimetic strain (T231E). The normal separation between the ALM and PLM neurites, represented by the area between the dashed lines in T231A, is replaced by overlapping neurites in T231E, as demarcated by a dashed circle. c, d Representative images of specific neurite morphology defects observed in touch cells. White arrow points to a misguided neurite in panel (c), and white stars illustrate gaps in panel (d), respectively. The scale bar is 10 μm. e-h Quantification of the defects exemplified in panels b-d in Dendra2, TauT4, and T231A, T231E and K274/281Q. The colored bar denote the percentage of worms with the defect, while the gray bar denotes the percentage of worm that lack the defect. Statistical analysis was by Fisher’s exact test followed by two-tailed correction, with *P < 0.05 compared to the Dendra2 control, unless otherwise denoted. Data for the parental Pmec-4::mCherry reporter strain lacking tau transgenes, which is very similar to Dendra2, is not shown. N = 50 neurites from separate animals scored for each type of defect, from three independent biological replicates

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