Figure 2

Increased astrogliosis, TNFα and IL1β expression in the hippocampus of B6129 Prnp^Zrchl/Zrchl Prnp^0/0 and 129/Ola Prnp^Edbg/Edbg Prnp^0/0.

(a) Examples of GFAP-positive immunoreactive cells in the stratum radiatum of the hippocampal CA1-3, 24 hours after KA administration in hippocampal coronal sections of B6129 Prnp^Zrchl/Zrchl Prnp^+/+, B6129 Prnp^Zrchl/Zrchl Prnp^0/0, 129/Ola Prnp^Edbg/Edbg Prnp^+/+, 129/Ola Prnp^Edbg/Edbg Prnp^0/0. Both Prnp-null mice show greater numbers of reactive astroglia than their wild-type controls. (b) RT-qPCR of TNFα and IL1β mRNA levels from hippocampal RNA extracts obtained from B6129 Prnp^Zrchl/Zrchl Prnp^+/+, B6129 Prnp^Zrchl/Zrchl Prnp^0/0, 129/Ola Prnp^Edbg/Edbg Prnp^+/+, 129/Ola Prnp^Edbg/Edbg Prnp^0/0 mice 6 hours after the last KA treatment (at 60 minutes). Plotted data (mean ± S.E.M.) were obtained from three independent experiments and represented as mean fold change induction. Abbreviations are as in Fig. 1. Scale bars represent 100 μm. Asterisks indicate statistical significance (***P < 0.01 Mann-Whitney U test).