Figure 6

Anatomical and functional correlates of regeneration after facial nerve injury. Analyses of facial nerve regeneration in wild-type versus knockout mice after crush or transection of the facial nerve. Fig. 6a illustrates DiAsp-labelled neurons in the ipsilateral facial nucleus of a knockout mouse 14 days after facial nerve crush; scale bar = 100 μm. Fig. 6b shows Fluorogold (FG)-labelled neurons in the facial nucleus of a wild-type mouse in a coronal section of the ipsilateral pons 28 days after facial nerve transection; scale bar = 100 μm and applies to Fig. 6c also. Fig. 6c shows FG-labelled neurons in the contralateral (uninjured) facial nucleus of the same mouse as Fig. 6b. Note that some injured neurons are larger and that they are distributed throughout the facial nucleus rather than being clustered at its lateral edge, as in the uninjured facial nucleus. Fig. 6d shows histograms of the time taken for the blink reflex and spontaneous whisker twitching to reappear after facial nerve crush in 4 wild-type (black columns) versus 4 knockout (grey columns) mice. The means and standard errors of the means are shown at the top of each column. No differences were apparent between the wild-type and knockout groups for either test. Retrogradely labelled neurons were counted in the facial nucleus of 3 wild-type versus 2 knockout mice 14 days after facial nerve crush (DiAsp labelling; Fig. 6e – no statistical analysis performed), in 8 wild-type versus 8 knockout mice 30 days after facial nerve transection (FG labelling; Fig. 6f) and in 4 wild-type versus 4 knockout mice 40days after facial nerve transection (DiAsp labelling; Fig. 6g). Differences between wild-type and knockout mice do not reach significance, at any survival time and with either retrograde label.