FIGURE 5.

Rod microglia formed in close proximity to ATF3⁺ neurons in the somatosensory cortex after TBI. Adult C57BL/6 mice were uninjured (control) or were subjected to midline fluid percussion injury (TBI). At 7 dpi, brains were perfused, fixed, sectioned, and labeled for activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3, green) and Iba1 (red). (a) Representative images (20×) of ATF3 labeling (top) and merged images of ATF3 and Iba1 labeling (bottom). Inset indicates region used for analysis. Arrows highlights clustering of ATF3⁺ cells in the cortex 7 dpi. (b) Number of ATF3⁺ cells per 20× field in the somatosensory cortex of mice subjected to control or TBI (n = 4). (c) Representative confocal image (40×) shows Thy1-YFP⁺/ATF3⁺ neurons in the somatosensory cortex 7 dpi. Arrow highlights ATF3⁺ neuron and inset shows single-color images of YFP⁺/ATF3⁺ neuron. Bars represent the mean ± SEM. Means with (*) are significantly different from controls (p < .05)