Figure 7. Neurostatin down-regulates GFAP expression in astrocytes.

C57BL/6 mice (n = 6) were treated by intravitreal injection of PBS, KA (10 nM), or KA plus Neurostatin (5 mM). At 24, 48 and 72 h after injection, glial cell activation was observed by immunostaining of retinal flat mounts with antibodies against GFAP (top panel) or retinal cross sections (lower panel) with antibodies against GFAP (green fluorescence) and vimentin (red fluorescence). Retinal cross sections were also counterstained with DAPI (blue). Immunostaining results indicate that KA induces GFAP-immunoreactivity in both astrocytes (top panel) and Mϋller cells (lower panel). Results from radial sections indicate that Neurostatin decreases KA-mediated GFAP-immunoreactivity not only in astrocytes, but also in Mϋller cells. All images were acquired at 40× magnification.