Fig. 4

pIONL induces persistent CXCR5 expression in the TG. a The time course of Cxcr5 mRNA expression in the ipsilateral TG from naïve, sham, and pIONL-operated mice. pIONL increased Cxcr5 expression at 3, 10, and 21 days, compared to sham. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. Two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni test. b Western blot shows increased CXCR5 protein level 10 days after pIONL, compared to sham. *P < 0.05. One-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni test. c Representative images of CXCR5 immunofluorescence in the TG. CXCR5-IR was low in naïve mice (c) and sham mice (d), but increased in the TG of pIONL mice (e). f–h Double staining of CXCR5 (f) and neuronal marker β-III tubulin (g) shows the neuronal expression of CXCR5