Fig. 1

Parenchymal interactions of MG/MDM far from and near the SCI site in the dorsal column. Representative 5 nm per pixel scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of MG/MDM far (A) and near (B) the spinal cord injury (SCI) site in the dorsal column of lower thoracic spinal cord of 8-week-old female SCI mice. Quantitative graphs representing the number of direct contacts with myelinated axons (C), non-degraded myelinated axons (D) and degraded myelinated axons (E), the ratio of direct contacts with degraded myelinated axons over all myelinated axons (F), the relative percentage of cells positive for at least one contact with a degraded myelinated axon (G), the number of direct contacts with all synaptic contacts (H), axon terminals (I) and dendritic spines (J). The area of the cytoplasm (K), the nucleus (L) and the cytoplasmic perimeter (M) are shown. Data are expressed as individual dots and are shown as means ± SEM. *p < 0.05, using a non-parametric Mann–Whitney test. Statistical tests were performed on n = 10–14 MG/MDM per animal with N = 3 mice/group, for a total of 79 cell bodies analyzed. Red outline = cytoplasmic membrane, yellow outline = nuclear membrane, ma = non-degraded myelinated axon, dma = degraded myelinated axon, t = axon terminal, s = dendritic spine