Figure 3

Autologous EGCs engraft reduces Aβ-dependent neuroinflammation.
(a,b) Immunohistochemistry of phospho-tau (pSer202) in brain slices shows a significant and timely-course dependent increase in protein staining in sham (n = 10) versus vehicle-treated rats (n = 10) in frontal cortex (a) and hippocampus (b). Scale bar: 50 μm. (c,d) The graphs show the significant and time-dependent increased expression of Iba-1, COX-2, GFAP and phosphor-tau protein in the frontal cortex (c) and the hippocampus (d) of sham compared to vehicle-treated rats (n = 10) (all P < 0.001). EGC transplantation caused a significant decrease in Iba-1, COX-2, GFAP and phosphor-tau protein expression along the time point intervals in both frontal cortex (c) and hippocampus (d) (°P < 0.05 and °°P < 0.001 vs. sham group). (e,f) The graphs show the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines measured by ELISA in the frontal cortex (e) and hippocampus (f) of sham, vehicle-treated and EGC-transplanted rats. Note the significant and time-dependent increase in TNF-α, PGE2 and IL-6 release (*P < 0.05 and ***P < 0.001) in sham compared to vehicle-treated rats. Autologous EGCs engraft caused a significant and time-dependent decrease in TNF-α, PGE2 and IL-6 release (*P < 0.05 and ***P < 0.001) in the frontal cortex (e) and the hippocampus (f) of EGC-transplanted versus sham rats. Results are expressed as mean ± S.E.M of n = 5 experiments in triplicate for each animal group. Statistical analysis was performed using parametric one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple comparisons were performed by Bonferroni’s post-test. Values of P < 0.05 were considered significant.