Fig. 2
From: Reactive astrocytes function as phagocytes after brain ischemia via ABCA1-mediated pathway
Phagocytosis of cellular debris by reactive astrocytes in the ischemic penumbra. a–c Compared with astrocyte processes in the contralateral striatum (a, blue), those in the ischemic penumbra were characterized by prominent intermediate filament bundles (b, yellow, arrowheads) and abundant glycogen granules (b, asterisks), and often contained small pieces of cellular debris (b, red, arrow). The debris was completely included in the astrocytic cytoplasm (c-i–c-x, arrows). d–f Three-dimensional reconstruction shows several pieces of debris (e, f, pink) are scattered within single processes (e, f, white). g, h Astrocyte processes surround blood vessels (g, BV), and engulf large debris (g, arrows) and myelin debris (g, h, red, arrowheads). Bars: 2 μm a, b, g, h or 5 μm d–f. i Dot plots of debris density (number/volume (µm3)) in astrocytes in the contralateral and ipsilateral striatum (n = 5, eight cells, three mice. **P < 0.01 vs. control, Mann–Whitney U-test)
