Fig. 4.

Genetic ablation of microglia in Cx3cr1-iDTR mice leads to activation of astrocytes A–C and upregulation of multiple cytokines measured by cytokine protein levels (D) and mRNA levels (E), compared to Cx3cr1-Cre or iDTR mice subjected to Dtx treatment. Scale bar = 100 μm. F–I PLX5622 microglia ablation does not lead to astrocyte activation. mRNA levels and protein levels of cytokine show no difference between control and microglia ablated mice (PLX5622). (n = 6–8 for qRT-PCR and n = 3–4 for cytokine measurement, Mean + SEM, *p < 0.05 and **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001 one-way ANOVA for E and Student’s t-test for D, H and I). Two cohorts of mice were pooled for q-RT-PCR experiments and one cohort of mice was used for cytokine measurement