Fig. 6

Motor endplate reinnervation. a–c Low-magnification images of longitudinal sections of the lateral gastrocnemius muscle labeled with α-bungarotoxin conjugated with Alexa 555 (red) 12 weeks after sciatic nerve lesion and implantation of hollow tube (a), tube + PCL filaments (b), or tube + PCL filaments covered with mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) (c). Cell nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). Arrows in a indicate the red background of α-bungarotoxin which indicates the spread of the nicotinic receptor. d Histogram of quantitative analysis of the number of motor endplates (α-bungarotoxin/NF-200 positive units) per square millimeter, following the same experimental conditions as described above. e–h High-magnification images of isolated motor endplates (α-bungarotoxin) showing the morphology observed for uninjured (e), hollow tube (f), tube + PCL filaments (g), or tube + PCL filaments covered with MSC (h). Scale bars: a–c = 200 μm; e–h = 20 μm. **p < 0.001, ***p < 0.0001, ANOVA; n = 6 for each experimental condition