Figure 4.

Retinal microglia activation was inhibited in MMF-treated animals. (A) At 24 hours after LIR, representative retinal sections and whole mount retinas stained with Iba1 demonstrated microglia translocation and density in the retina, respectively. Without LIR, Iba1-labeled microglia with ramified processes (green) were located in the IPL and OPL. (B) LIR induced microglia translocation to the ONL and microglia contained shortened processes. (C) MMF inhibited microglia migration and morphologic transformation. The white dotted line defines the area of inner retina, and the red dotted line defines the area of outer retina. (D, E) Quantification of microglia changes in retinal sections showed that LIR significantly decreased microglia density in the inner retina, and increased it in the outer retina, which was attenuated by MMF treatment. In each group, 15 sections (three sections in each mouse and five mice in each group) were analyzed. (F) In the whole mount retina, microglia density was not significantly changed by LIR or MMF treatment (n = 4). Each dot represents the microglia density in one mouse. Group average is shown as mean ± SE. *P < 0.05.