Fig. 6

Scrapie-induced retinal degeneration in tgGFP/RFP mice in presence or absence of retinal microglia. PLX5622 treatment was initiated at 90 dpi (red arrow). a Number of Iba1-positive cells in the photoreceptor layer increased in the no drug (ND) group, but remained low in the PLX5622-treated group. b The GFP-positive cells invading the OS and IS regions were also counted, as they indicated Cx3cr1 expression and a microglial phenotype. These were elevated at similar timepoints as were seen for Iba1. c Late in disease only rare cells were stained with anti-RFP antibody, which was a marker of Ccr2 expression and a monocyte-derived macrophage phenotype. d Apoptosis was detected by TUNEL staining in both ND and PLX groups in the ONL. e ONL of both ND and PLX groups showed marked thinning starting at 128 dpi. Comparison of ND vs PLX points around the maximum ONL thinning (129-134dpi, dotted boxes), was done by one tailed Mann-Whitney test, and p-values are shown on each panel