Figure 8.
Neuron loss and astrogliosis in hippocampus of proaggregation transgenic mice. Coronal brain sections were immunostained with NeuN (neuron-specific marker). A–C, Comparison between the layers of granule cells in the dentate gyrus of control, proaggregation, and antiaggregation mice at 5 months of gene expression. Arrows indicate the loss of neurons in the dentate gyrus of the proaggregation mutant. D–F, Control, proaggregation mutant, and antiaggregation mutant at 24 months of gene expression. Note the reduction of the granule cell layer in the dentate gyrus in the case of the proaggregation mutant compared with antiaggregation mutant and control mice. The double arrows indicate the shrinkage of the molecular layer for proaggregation mutant and no changes in the case of antiaggregation mutant and wild-type mice. G–I, Paraffin brain sections immunostained for GFAP. Note increased GFAP immunoreactivity in the hilus of the proaggregation mutant at 21 months of gene expression compared with antiaggregation mutant and wild-type mice, indicating that aggregation of TauRD induces inflammatory reactions. Scale bars: A–F, 100 μm; G–I, 50 μm.