FIGURE 6.

Depleting Hck in J20 mice slightly altered Thioflavin-S sphericity and Iba1⁺ microglia branching. (a) Representative confocal images of Thioflavin-S plaque (green) clustered by Iba1⁺ (red) microglia in J20 (left) and J20/Hck-KO (right) mice (6–8 months old). Scale bar, 20 μm. Knocking out Hck reduced, almost significantly, the sphericity of Thioflavin-S plaques when compared to J20 mice (b). Quantification of Thioflavin-S plaque volume covered by Iba1⁺ cells per plaque volume per cell (c) did not show significant differences between the two mouse genotypes. Volumetric and Imaris automated analyses of Iba1⁺ cells clustering around Thioflavin-S plaques did not show significant differences in the number of cells (d), % Iba1⁺ cells clustering Thioflavin-S plaques per plaque volume per cell (e), nor total processes length/Iba1⁺ microglia (f). Nonetheless, there was near significant reduction in Iba1⁺ microglia branching in J20/Hck-KO (g). Plaques were analyzed in the hemibrains of 8 J20 (n = 27) and 6 J20/Hck-KO mice (n = 58). Data are expressed as mean ± SEM from one section per mouse.