Fig. 5.

Demyelination is worsened in the absence of microglial Mertk. A Demyelination was induced in Mertk WT and cKO mice with oral administration of cuprizone for 3 or 5 weeks. B Representative TEM images of corpus callosum tissue from WT and cKO animals following 3 or 5 weeks cuprizone challenge. Scale bar represents 2 µm. C The density of myelinated axons was similar between Mertk WT and cKO mice following 3 and 5 weeks cuprizone-induced demyelination (2-way ANOVA; P = 0.77). D Myelin thickness was similar between Mertk WT and cKO mice following 3 weeks cuprizone-induced demyelination (linear regression; P > 0.05). E At 5 weeks, myelin was significantly thinner in Mertk cKO mice compared with WT mice (linear regression; P = 0.0094). All data obtained n = 4 mice/group. Myelinated axon data represent means ± SD