Figure 1.
Schematic overview of experimental setup and analysis.
(A) Diagram illustrating the co-culture model. (B) Measurement of neurite outgrowth from SH-SY5Y cells. Neurites were traced (red lines) and the mean neurite length measured for the total number of cells in each field of view. The mean percentage number of neurite expressing cells in each field of view was also calculated.
Figure 2.
Analysis of neural cell behaviour in control cultures.
Histograms to illustrate (A) the percentage number of neurite expressing cells and (B) mean neurite length from differentiated SH-SY5Y cells cultured alone, or co-cultured with empty (cell-free) alginate beads (n = 6).
Figure 3.
Analysis of neural cell behaviour following co-culture with normal and degenerate human NP cells.
Histograms illustrating the percentage number of neurite expressing cells (A and C) and mean neurite length (B and D) from differentiated SH-SY5Y cells co-cultured with non-degenerate (A and B) and degenerate (C and D) NP cells without contact for 48 hours (n = 3 non-degenerate, n = 3 degenerate; * = P<0.05).
Figure 4.
Analysis of neural cell behaviour following co-culture with degenerate human NP cells with or without addition of anti-NGF antibody.
Histograms illustrating the percentage number of neurite expressing cells (A) and mean neurite length (B) from differentiated SH-SY5Y cells co-cultured with degenerate NP cells without contact for 48 hours with or without addition of anti-NGF antibody (n = 3; * = P<0.05).
Figure 5.
Analysis of neural cell behaviour following co-culture with degenerate human NP cells with or without addition of anti-BDNF antibody.
Histograms illustrating the percentage number of neurite expressing cells (A) and mean neurite length (B) from differentiated SH-SY5Y cells co-cultured with degenerate NP cells without contact for 48 hours with or without addition of anti-BDNF antibody (n = 4; * = P<0.05).