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. 2022 Apr 15;16:867217. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2022.867217

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Microglial subpopulations in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) differ in their synaptic pruning levels based on CRH+ neuron contact. (A) Representative confocal images of 3D-reconstructed microglia (CX3CR1-GFP+; green) and their engulfed vGlut2+ synaptic puncta (white) in the subpopulations that contact CRH+ neurons (tdTomato+; red; bottom) and those that do not (top) in the PVN of a postnatal day (P) 8 male ELA mouse. (B) Only microglia in the PVN that are directly abutting CRH+ neurons are inhibited by ELA and prune fewer synapses compared to controls (unpaired t-test with Welch’s correction; CTL vs. ELA: contacting CRH+ neurons, t13.9 = 2.22, p = 0.04). Furthermore, microglia contacting CRH+ neurons engulf fewer vGlut2+ synaptic puncta compared to microglia not contacting CRH+ neurons in both CTL and ELA mice at P8 (paired t-tests; CTL: contacting vs. not, t9 = 2.46, p = 0.04; ELA: contacting vs. not, t6 = 3.54, p = 0.01). Data are mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05. Adapted from Bolton et al. (2022).