Figure 3.

Treatment of astrocytes with conditioned medium harvested from LPS-activated MG or proinflammatory cytokines increases membrane permeability of astrocytes through Cx43 hemichannels. a, Representative time lapse of EthBr uptake in astrocytes recorded every 30 s. Each circle corresponds to one EthBr uptake determination, averaged with 20 recorded cells, measured either under untreated condition (Control; empty circles) or after 24 h incubation with either CM* (CM*; filled circles) or Mix (Mix; gray circles) in astrocyte cultures. For each group, La³⁺ (200 μm) was applied during the last 10 min of the EthBr uptake time lapse determination. b, Quantification of the rate of EthBr uptake in astrocytes under untreated conditions (Control; empty bar) or treated with CM* (CM*; filled bar) or Mix (Mix; gray bar). Data are expressed as the percentage of the EthBr uptake rate measured under control conditions. For each group, the dye uptake rate was measured in the presence (+) or absence (−) of La³⁺ (200 μm) at the end of the time lapse. Each bar represents the mean ± SEM [except for the control (−) group taken as reference] of 10 independent experiments per group. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001; n.s., no significant difference, compared with the indicated groups.