Fig. 6: Astrocyte-specific SCAP ablation triggers a phenotypic switch in reactive astrocytes and attenuates astrocyte atrophy.

a The representative maximum intensity projections of confocal images of GFAP- and C3-labeled astrocytes from Cre- NCD, Cre- HFD/STZ, AS cKO NCD and AS cKO HFD/STZ. Scale bars, 10 µm. b The average integrated fluorescence intensity (IntDen) of C3 colocalized with GFAP per astrocyte in the hippocampus. c The representative z-projection images of GFAP- and DAPI-labeled hippocampal subregions surveyed in the four groups. Scale bar, 20 μm. Insets show higher magnifications (top) and 3D rendering (bottom) of the boxed areas in the respective panels. Scale bars, 10 µm. n = 5 per group. d, e The quantification of astrocyte volume (d) and surface area (e) in the hippocampal subregions; n = 5 per group, n = 4–5 cells per animal. f–h The quantification of astrocyte branch length (f), branch number (g) and branch endpoints (h); n = 5 per group, n = 4–5 cells per animal. i The representative images of SYP coverage with astrocytes in the hippocampus from each group. Scale bar, 10 μm. Insets show 3D rendering of boxed areas in the respective panels. j, k The quantification of SYP-positive puncta (j) and the number (k) of SYP-positive puncta colocalized with GFAP⁺ astrocytes in the hippocampus. The data are expressed as the means ± s.e.m. The one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons test was performed for all the statistical analyses except j and k, where Student’s t-test (two-tailed) was performed. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001. No other statistical comparisons are significant unless otherwise indicated.