Journal: medRxiv
Article Title: Glutamate Carboxypeptidase II (GCPII)-Targeted PET to Identify Muscle Denervation in Peripheral Nervous System Injuries
doi: 10.64898/2026.03.18.26348533
Figure Lengend Snippet: Composite images of α-bungarotoxin (red) targeting postsynaptic neuromuscular junctions (i.e., motor endplates), anti-neurofilament H (purple) targeting the axonal cytoskeletons, and anti-GCPII (green) demonstrating muscle innervation after nerve transection with or without repair; arrowheads emphasize axons. (A) Healthy muscle after sham surgery demonstrating a normal innervated neuromuscular junction with surrounding GCPII expression. Contrast this with the appearance of neuromuscular junctions at (B) 4 weeks, (C) 8 weeks, and (D) 16 weeks after sciatic nerve transection with repair; note progressive flattening and fragmentation of endplates consistent with chronic denervation, the absence of axons, and lack of GCPII expression. Nerve transection with immediate repair demonstrates infiltration of axons and neuromuscular junction reinnervation between (E) 4 weeks and (F) 8 weeks. Also note recovery of GCPII expression near the reinnervated neuromuscular junction, which persists at (G) 16 weeks after nerve repair. Panels are 20× magnification, scale bar: 20 μm.
Article Snippet: For GCPII content, primary antibody was rabbit anti-GCPII polyclonal antibody (Proteintech, 13163-1-AP, 1:50), secondary antibody was anti-rabbit CoraLite488-conjugated IgG (H+L) (Proteintech, SA00013-2, 1:200).
Techniques: Expressing