Fig. 4.

Elimination of senescent cells improves astrocyte-mediated neurovascular coupling responses in WBI-treated mice. Panel a Representative pseudocolor laser speckle flowmetry maps of baseline CBF (upper panels) and CBF changes in the whisker barrel field relative to baseline during contralateral whisker stimulation (lower panels, right oval, 30 s, 5 Hz) in control and WBI-treated p16-3MR mice that received vehicle, ganciclovir (GCV), or the senolytic drug ABT263. NVC responses were assessed 6 month post-WBI (see “Materials and methods”). The EET-mediated component of the NVC response was assessed by treatment with the epoxygenase inhibitor MSPPOH. Color bar represents CBF as percent change from baseline. Panel b shows the time-course of CBF changes after the start of contralateral whisker stimulation (horizontal bars). Summary data are shown in panel c. Data are mean ± SEM (n = 7–21 in each group), *P < 0.05 vs. control, ^#P < 0.05 vs. vehicle treated WBI. ^&P < 0.05 vs. no MSPPOH