Research Paper Volume 9, Issue 3 pp 880—899

Figure 6. Larger postsynaptic endplates in area, expansion and dispersion of AChRs at lama4^-/- neuromuscular junctions. (A) Representative staining of postsynaptic AChR endplates (red) in EDL muscle. WT and lama4^-/- NMJs at 3MO had similar synapse area and endplate expansion. Aged lama4^-/- NMJs maintained large synapse area and expansion similarly to 3MO whereas aged WT appeared smaller in area and expansion in comparison with both genotypes at 3MO and aged lama4^-/- NMJs. Scale bar = 10 µm. Quantification of (B) synapse area, (C) endplate expansion and (D) dispersion of AChRs across all age groups. (B-D) n = 3, NMJs = 51-82 per genotype at each age group. Statistical analyses were performed using Student’s t-tests; values are presented as mean ± SEM (* P < 0.05, *** P < 0.001, and ****P < 0.0001).