Fig 2. In the setting of IFN-γ depletion, Toxoplasma reactivation leads to an increase in parasite burden, GFP⁺ cells, and GFP⁺ astrocytes in the CNS.

Starting at 4 wpi, isotype control or anti-interferon-γ antibodies were administered every 5 days to Cre reporter mice infected with II-Cre parasites. Mice were sacrificed at 6 wpi after receiving 3 doses of antibody treatment. Brains were sectioned and stained as in Fig 1. Confocal microscopy was used to analyze stained brain sections from control and IFN-γ-depleted mice. (a) Representative stitched-grid image of half of a coronal brain section from a control (left) or IFN-γ-depleted (right) mouse. Scale bar, 1 mm. (b) Quantification of cyst number (6 sections/mouse) and GFP⁺ cell number (1 section/mouse) found in control or IFN-γ-depleted mice. N = 4–5 mice/group. *p< 0.05 by independent sample, two-tailed t-test. (c) Quantification of the lineage of GFP⁺ cells by co-localization with antibody stains for neurons, astrocytes, or neither (unidentified). (d) As in (c) but restricting the analysis only to GFP⁺ cells identified as neurons or astrocytes. N = 4–5 mice/group. N = 82–209 GFP⁺ cells/mouse analyzed for cell lineage studies. ***p< 0.001 by independent sample, two-tailed t-test.