Fig. 4

Following optic nerve crush (ON-CR) at 6 weeks of age, Nf1^flox/flox; hGFAP-Cre mice at 12 weeks of age have increased a TAMs (%Iba1⁺ cells; n = 6) and b Ccl5 mRNA expression (qPCR; n = 4) in their optic nerves relative to sham controls. c Ccl5 is expressed by Tmem119⁺ microglia, but not by astrocytes (GFAP⁺ cells). d Immediately after ON-CR at 6 weeks of age, Nf1^flox/flox; hGFAP-Cre mice received PLX33397 (PLX) by replacing normal chow (AIN-76A rodent diet; Research Diet Inc.) with 275 mg/kg PLX3397-containing chow (Free Base) for 6 weeks. Control mice received normal chow. Optic nerves were analyzed at 12 weeks of age. e PLX treatment results in reduced optic nerve proliferation (%Ki67⁺ cells; n = 5). f Following ON-CR, Nf1^flox/flox; hGFAP-Cre mouse optic nerves (n = 3) have increased Iκbα phosphorylation relative to sham controls (n = 3). g Treatment of Nf1^flox/flox; hGFAP-Cre mice with 10 mg/kg CAPE (NFκB-IN) immediately after ON-CR at 6 weeks of age results in reduced h optic nerve proliferation (Ki67⁺ cells; n = 5) and i Ccl5 RNA expression (n = 3) relative to vehicle-treated mice at 12 weeks of age. Data are presented as the means ± SEM. Scale bars: a, c, e, h. 50 µm. Two-tailed Student’s t test