Fig. 7.

A. Effects of static or activated microglia on proliferation of RMECs. RMECs were cocultured with microglia (with or without LPS) for 24 h, WST-1 reagent was used to evaluate RMECs proliferation ability. We found that both static and activated microglia induced RMECs proliferation, and LPS further enhanced the stimulatory effect of microglia on RMECs. B. Effects of static or activated microglia on permeability and phenotype of RMECs. For evaluation of permeability and phenotype of RMECs, after cocultured with microglia (with or without LPS) for 24 h, we collected RMECs and tested protein expression of occludin, ZO-1, CD-31, and CD-34. Both static and activated microglia significantly reduced the expression of occludin and ZO- 1, markers of cell permeability, in RMECs compared with RMECs without microglia. Regarding phenotype, both static and activated microglia reduced CD31 and increased CD34 expression, which are endothelial markers, in RMECs (B). *P < 0.05 using one-way ANOVA. **P < 0.01 using one-way ANOVA. Abbreviations: Con, control RMECs (i.e., cultured without microglia); MG, REMCs co-cultured with static microglia; LPS-MG, REMCs co-cultured with activated microglia; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; ZO-1, zonula occludens-1. (Page 12, paragraph 2–3)