Distribution of total β-tubulin and total tau along the axon
| Profile parameters | Average ± SD (minimum/maximum) | |
|---|---|---|
| β-Tubulin | Tau | |
| Proportion of axons showing a distal rise in staining intensity | 93% | 100% |
| Length of distal region (μm)1_a | 117 ± 59 | 162 ± 57 |
| (7.5/212) | (71/245) | |
| Distance from axon tip of distal segment containing peak ADU (μm) | 19 ± 13 | 24 ± 14 |
| (0/47) | (0/55) | |
| (Peak ADU distal axon)/(mean ADU proximal axon) | 6.3 ± 4.1 | 10.9 ± 6.9 |
| (2.6/18.8) | (4.1/26.6) | |
| (Peak ADU distal axon)/(median ADU entire axon)1_b | 5.1 ± 2.4 | 7.1 ± 4.0 |
| (2.4/11.4) | (2.5/15.4) | |
| (Amount in distal axon)/(total amount in axon) | 0.41 ± 0.24 | 0.61 ± 0.18 |
| (0.06/0.82) | (0.33/0.87) | |
The data were obtained from 14 axons fixed in the absence of detergent (using procedure 4), and then double-stained with the mouse monoclonal antibody against β-tubulin and a rabbit polyclonal antibody against tau (tau-5′) (using staining condition 2). Cells processed in this manner reveal the distribution of total β-tubulin and total tau in the axon. The table shows several parameters of these distributions obtained with the segmented mask procedure. The average length of the axons analyzed was 423 ± 88 μm (range = 296–566 μm). The measurements regarding the distal region are based only on those axons that showed a distal rise in staining intensity.
↵F1_a This refers to the length of the distal axon over which the staining intensity for tubulin and tau increased from the proximal plateau region.
↵F1_b Note: we presented the peak value in distal axon relative to the median in the axon as a whole because the value of the median is much less influenced by the extremes than the mean.