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Fig. 4 | Acta Neuropathologica Communications

Fig. 4

From: Mild hypoxia triggers transient blood–brain barrier disruption: a fundamental protective role for microglia

Fig. 4

Under hypoxic conditions, absence of microglia results in increased MECA-32 expression and region-specific astrocyte-vascular uncoupling. a, c. Frozen brain sections (images captured in brainstem) taken from mice fed normal chow or PLX5622-containing chow and maintained under hypoxic conditions for 7 days were stained for CD31 (AlexaFluor-488) and AQP4 (Cy-3) in panel A or CD31 (AlexaFluor-488) and MECA-32 (Cy-3) in panel C. Scale bar = 50 μm. b, d. Quantification of the % of blood vessels expressing AQP4 (b) or number of blood vessels expressing MECA-32/FOV (d) in the brainstem (BS), olfactory bulb (OB), cerebral cortex (CX) and cerebellum (CB). Results are expressed as the mean ± SEM (n = 4 mice/group). *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01. Note that under hypoxic conditions, PLX5622-fed mice contained a significant number of cerebral blood vessels in the brainstem and olfactory bulb that lacked AQP4 expression (see arrows in a), though this AQP4 loss was not observed in the cerebral cortex or cerebellum (b). In addition, in mice fed PLX5622, all brain regions examined (brainstem, olfactory bulb, cerebral cortex and cerebellum) showed a higher number of vessels expressing MECA-32 compared with normal chow-fed controls

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