Fig. 3

FIGURE 3. Cell autonomous effect of Mecp2 on sensory neurons during embryonic development. Embryos were injected with mecp2 MO and labeled with TUNEL. Antibody against HuC was used to label cell bodies in TG. Representative images showing TUNEL labeling in TG in wild-type controls (WT, left panel), Mecp2 morphants (right panel) (Blue – DAPI, Green – HuC and Red – TUNEL) (A). Quantitative analysis of TUNEL-labeled cells (indicative of apoptosis) at 16 and 24 hpf were presented in graphs showing total number of TUNEL positive cells per 12 mm × 12 mm in the head (B). Representative images showing peripheral axonal projections from sensory neurons of TG in Mecp2 morphants rescued by coinjection with huC-gfp control plasmids (left panel) or huC-mecp2 plasmids (right panel) (C). Quantitative analysis of total peripheral projections of trigeminal sensory neurons, with graphs presenting total length of peripheral projections from trigeminal ganglia per zebrafish (D). N > 10 in each group. Scale bar = 50 μm (^∗∗∗P < 0.0001, one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni’s post hoc test).