Fig. 4.

Clodrosome-mediated depletion of macrophages delays the occurrence and ameliorates the severity of paralysis. (a) Experimental design for clodrosome treatment. IP: intraperitoneal. (b and c) CD68 immunostaining (b, N = 3 pairs, three random pictures were counted from each mice) and relative mRNA levels of pro-inflammatory genes (c, N = 5 pairs) of sciatic nerve from 3 treatment groups: WT, KO + Vehicle and KO + Clodros. Clodros: Clodrosome. (d) Mice behavioral scores before (upper) and after (bottom) treatment in WT, KO + Vehicle and KO + Clodros groups, N = 5 pairs of age/sex-matched littermates (L1-L5). Mild paralysis: clenching of hind limbs to the body when suspended by the tail, dragging hind limbs and moving slowly. Severe paralysis: hind limbs can't move and the mice are unable to keep body balance. (e) Distance (upper) and speed (bottom) of mice ran on a treadmill after clodrosome treatment for 4 weeks. N = 5 pairs. (f) CAP amplitude for WT (N = 6), KO + Vehicle (N = 4) and KO + Clodros (N = 5) groups. The number of samples are biological replicates. Error bars: S.E.M., *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, WT compared with KO + Vehicle groups. ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01, KO + Vehicle compared with KO + Clodros groups (Student's t-test). Scale bar: 100 μm.