Fig. 3

Changes in astrocyte morphology in mitotic arrest. a-c. a Astrocyte with enlarged cell body and many primary processes. Note that two neighboring astrocytes (arrows) with micronuclei reveal minimal immunoreactivity for phospho-vimentin (pVIM) indicating a primarily non-phosphorylated state after mitotic slippage. b Astrocyte with a ball-like cell body and only a few primary processes. c Astrocyte showing a significant reduction of primary processes. Insets show misaligned chromosomes with DAPI. d-f Mitotic astrocytes filled with Lucifer yellow (LY) reveal a reduction in numbers of miniature distal processes. Insets in (d and e) show disarranged metaphase chromosomes. f1 is a single optical slice of an enlargement of the astrocyte in (f). Note that the astrocytes in (d-f) are not coupled with neighboring astrocytes. g An astrocyte filled with LY (arrow, enlarged in g1) contains misaligned chromosomes (enlarged in inset in g1), but retains a bushy-like appearance and is coupled to neighboring astrocytes, one of which (arrowhead in g, enlarged in g2) has several micronuclei, indicating slippage from arrested mitosis. Insets show metaphase chromosomes (g1, arrow indicates misaligned chromosomes) and micronuclei (g2). All images were obtained with confocal microscope 4 days after pilocarpine administration. Scale bars: a-c = 10 μm,  d,e = 15 μm,  f = 35 μm, g = 35 μm, g1, g2 = 10 μm