Fig. 1: Microglia with lipid droplet accumulation are susceptible to ferroptosis and undergo ferroptosis in a unique spatiotemporal manner after SCI.

a Spinal cord from sham and SCI mice lesion epicenter stained for BODIPY⁺ (lipid droplets) and Hexb⁺ (microglia). Arrows indicate lipid droplets. Scale bar, 20 μm or 10 μm. b, c Quantification of BODIPY⁺ lipid droplet numbers, and percent BODIPY⁺/Hexb⁺ cells in the spinal cord. (n = 5 mice per group). d Double immunostaining images of spinal cord sections, showing the microglia distribution and the spatiotemporal characteristics of ferroptosis in uninjured C57BL/6J mice, as well as in the lesion epicenter at 0.25, 1, 3, 7, and 14 dpi. Scale bar, 100 μm or 20 μm. e, f Quantification of the number of microglia and the Hexb⁺/Acsl4⁺ of the total Hexb⁺ microglia under different stages after SCI (n = 5 animals per group). All data are presented as the mean ± SD. P values were determined by two-tailed unpaired Student’s t-test (b, c), one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple-comparisons test (e, f). ****P < 0.0001; ns not significant.