Fig. 3: Morphological blunting of microglia in the 2HIT stress-exposed brain. | Communications Biology

Fig. 3: Morphological blunting of microglia in the 2HIT stress-exposed brain.

From: Maternal immune activation followed by peripubertal stress combinedly produce reactive microglia and confine cerebellar cognition

Fig. 3

a 3D-reconstructed images of cerebellar microglia from Control, 2HIT, and 2HIT after microglia-replacement (2HIT+rMG) male animals. Representative microglia from the cerebellar cortex (CbCrx) and nuclei (CbN) are shown. b Representative microglial morphology stacks from CbCrx, CbN, hippocampus (HPC), and ventral tegmental areas (VTA) of male Control, RSDS-susceptible (RSDS sus), RSDS-resilient (RSDS res), MIA, 2HIT-susceptible (2HIT sus), 2HIT-resilient (2HIT res), Control after microglia-replacement (Control+rMG), and 2HIT+rMG animals. Sholl analysis of stress-conditioned microglia (Control, RSDS sus, RSDS res, MIA, 2HIT sus, and 2HIT res) in different brain regions in male (c) and female (d) mice, showing interaction counts against concentric circles. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. Two-way ANOVA group × distance, interactions: Cbcr, F(500, 11009) = 2.58, p < 0.0001; CbN, F(500, 13231) = 3.07, p < 0.0001; VTA, F(500, 12726) = 1.32, p < 0.0001, in male (c). Two-way ANOVA group × distance, interactions: Cbcr, F(500, 16362) = 1.23, p < 0.0005; CbN, F(500, 15352) = 2.22, p < 0.0001, in female (d). *p < 0.0001, multiple comparisons using the Bonferroni method. A significant interaction effect was observed between distance and stress conditions. Sholl analysis of microglia across microglia-replacement condition (Control, 2HIT sus, 2HIT res, and 2HIT+rMG) in different brain regions in male (e) and female (f) mice. Two-way ANOVA group × distance, interaction: Cbcr, F(300, 8686) = 2.53, p < 0.0001; CbN, F(300, 9797) = 2.91, p < 0.0001, in male (e). Two-way ANOVA group × distance, interactions: Cbcr, F(300, 10201) = 1.58, p < 0.0001; CbN, F(300, 9999) = 2.47, p < 0.0001, in female (f). There was a significant interaction effect between distance and stress conditions (*p < 0.0001). The results suggest reduced process arborization of cerebellar and VTA microglia in stress models of both sexes, with improvements observed after microglia replacement. See also Supplementary Figs. 7 and 8.

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