Figure 8.

HO₂-EVs induce brain inflammation. (A) Immunostaining for AIF1 (brown, red arrows) showed that microglia cells in the HO₂-EV–injected hippocampus were disorganized and had enlarged bodies compared with hippocampi from LO₂-EV–injected and control EV–injected mice. Representative focal enlarged areas of microglial cells are in the red boxes. Objective magnification, 20×. Scale bars, 50 μm. (B) There was a significant increase of AIF1⁺ microglial cells in the HO₂-EV–injected group compared with the other two groups. (C–E) qRT-PCR demonstrated increased gene expression of the inflammasome components Nlrp3, Asc, and Il18 in the hippocampus of HO₂-EV–injected mice compared with control EV–injected and LO₂-EV–injected mice. n = 5 or 6 per group. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, and ****P < 0.0001.