Fig. 3.

Developmental ablation of mature oligodendrocytes results in a decrease in myelinated axons, an increase in astrocytes and microglial activation, and elevated numbers of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells. A. Representative images of spinal cord sections stained with Solochrome indicate a decrease in myelin staining observed throughout the white matter in animals treated with CID (n ​= ​3) compared to vehicle (VEH) treated controls (n ​= ​2). Yellow boxes represent magnified areas. B. Ultrastructural analyses confirmed the decrease in myelinated axons in CID compared to VEH treated spinal cord. Healthy oligodendrocytes (white asterisk) are apparent in the VEH image associated with neighboring axons. C. Quantification of Solochrome images (top graph) and EM sections (bottom graph) show significant decrease in levels of myelin and the number of myelinated axons in CID compared to VEH animals. D, E. Oligodendrocyte ablation results in changes in adjacent glial cell populations. Sections from spinal cord injected with VEH or CID were labeled with antibodies to Iba1 (red in D), PDGFRα (green in E), GFAP (red in E), and Dapi (blue). CID treated animals demonstrated increased Iba1 (D) and GFAP (E) immunoreactive and higher number of OPCs compared to VEH animals. (Bar ​= ​10 ​μm in A and B, Bar ​= ​25 ​μm in D and E). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)