Figure 7. Memory impairment in mice with SMAD4-deficient microglia.

(A) Representative confocal images of Iba1, CD206 and GFAP staining on brains from Smad4^F/F and Smad4 cKO mice (n=5 mice/genotype, 4-week-old, two independent experiments).

(B) Percentage of GFAP covered area in the brain of Smad4^F/F and Smad4 cKO mice (n=5 mice/genotype, 4-week-old, displayed mean values of three sections per mouse, Mann-Whitney U test, *P<0.05, pool of two independent experiments).

(C) Open Field Test on Smad4^F/F and Smad4 cKO littermate mice assessing travelled distance every 10 min intervals, and total travelled distance during 1h test (n=14 Smad4^F/F and n=10 Smad4 cKO, 2–3-month-old, two-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc test and Mann-Whitney U test, *P<0.05, pool of three independent experiments).

(D) Elevated Plus Maze test on Smad4^F/F and Smad4 cKO littermate mice assessing percentage of time and percentage of travelled distance in open arms, and total travelled during 5 min test (n=14 Smad4^F/F and n=10 Smad4 cKO, 2–3-month-old, Mann-Whitney U test, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001, pool of three independent experiments).

(E) Rotarod test on Smad4^F/F and Smad4 cKO littermate mice assessing latency time to fall from accelerated rod during 9 trials (n=14 Smad4^F/F and n=10 Smad4 cKO, 2–3-month-old, Mann-Whitney U test, pool of three independent experiments).

(F) Morris Water Maze test on Smad4^F/F and Smad4 cKO littermate mice assessing latency time to locate hidden platform during 5 days of training (n=14 Smad4^F/F and n=8 Smad4 cKO, 3–4-month-old, two-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc test, pool of three independent experiments).

(G) Morris Water Maze test on Smad4^F/F and Smad4 cKO littermate mice assessing swimming time in target quadrant and number of crossings over platform position during probe trial (n=14 Smad4^F/F and n=8 Smad4 cKO, 3–4-month-old, Mann-Whitney U test, **P<0.01, pool of three independent experiments).

See also Figure S6