Fig. 3

Attenuated morphological transformation of Cln3 ^−/− astrocytes. The morphology of wild type (WT) and Cln3-deficient (Cln3 ^−/−) astrocytes was studied under basal conditions and after stimulation with LPS/IFNγ for 24 or 48 h by immunostaining with GFAP (red in A, green in B). DAPI (blue) was used to visualize all nuclei. A WT astrocytes changed their morphology dramatically after a 24 h exposure to LPS/INFγ to display characteristic branched processes (arrowheads) and these changes became enhanced over time. In contrast Cln3 ^−/− astrocytes remained relatively morphologically unchanged after 24 h of stimulation remaining as large flat cells with no processes, but showed morphological changes after 48 h activation. B ImageJ was used to quantify astrocyte cell body size under all experimental conditions by drawing around the soma of GFAP positive cells (dashed lines, with contained area shaded red). C The mean cell soma sizes were determined by quantifying 10 random fields per coverslip and a minimum of two coverslips per experiment. Scale bar = 50 μm