Figure 3. NMO-IgG induces astrocyte activation and neuronal injury.
(A) GFAP immunoreactivity after NMO-IgG (top, longitudinal section; bottom right, L4 cross section) or control-IgG (bottom left, L4 cross section); insets are higher magnifications of areas boxed in ventral horns. n = 5 mice (4 sections/mouse). Scale bars: 1 mm (top), 200 μm (bottom), and 20 μm (insets). (B) Numbers of astrocytes (GFAP+) and astrocyte cell body volume after 5 days of infusion with control-IgG or NMO-IgG. n = 5 mice (4 sections/mouse). (C) NeuN staining and mask figures of NeuN+ cell shapes at L4 cross section after NMO-IgG or control-IgG infusion. n = 5 mice (4 sections/mouse). Scale bars: 200 μm. (D) NeuN+ cell counts at L4 spinal cord after 5 days of NMO-IgG or control-IgG infusion. n = 5 mice (4 sections/mouse). Data presented as the mean ± SEM. ***P < 0.001 by 2-tailed Student’s t test (B and D).