Figure 7.

H-2D^b expression by CNS-myeloid cells impacts antiviral immunity and brain atrophy. Experimental strategy is identical to Figure 3E, in which tamoxifen administration in CX3CR1^cre/D^b mice and cre^- controls is followed by a 6-week reconstitution period before i.c. infection with TMEV. (A) Weight loss over the course of infection is measured in cre^- and CX3CR1^cre/D^b mice. (B) Infectious viral load in whole brain homogenates at 5-, 7-, 14-, and 21-days post infection is measured by plaque assay in cre^- and CX3CR1^cre/D^b mice. (C) Representative 2D images and 3D renderings of lateral ventricle volumes obtained by T2 weighted MRI of cre^- and CX3CR1^cre/D^b mice during naïve conditions and after recovery from TMEV infection (45 dpi). Images were analyzed using Analyze 12.0 (D) Lateral ventricle volume is quantified for naïve and TMEV-recovered cre^- controls and CX3CR1^cre/D^b mice. (E) Fold change in lateral ventricle volume from naïve to 45dpi is quantified for TMEV-recovered cre^- controls and CX3CR1^cre/D^b mice. Data are shown as individual mice with mean from one independent experiment (n=3-13) of ≥ 2 experimental replicates. Error bars represent standard deviation. Two tailed Welch’s t test or one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s correction were used to assess statistical significance with ns p ≥ 0.05. * denotes P < 0.05, ** denotes P < 0.001.