Figure 4

Time course of LPS-induced NF-IL6-IR (red) in the rat pituitary. (A) An overview shows typical NF-IL6-IR distribution 8 h after LPS stimulation in the anterior (AL), intermediate (IL), and posterior pituitary lobe (PL). The dashed square indicates respective localization of the following microphotographs at higher magnification. (B-G) LPS stimulation (100 μg/kg i.p.) induced NF-IL6-IR, which peaked 8 h after injection (E). Some NF-IL6-IR was also observed 8 h after saline injection (D), which was similar to levels 24 h after LPS stimulation (G). (H, I) When injecting a 10× higher LPS dose (1 mg/kg i.p.), the amount of NF-IL6-IR was not further increased at respective time points (8 and 24 h) compared to sections of animals that were stimulated with 100 μg/kg LPS i.p. (D, E). Please note overall strong NF-IL6-IR lining the IL. Cell nuclei were labeled with DAPI (blue) and pituicytes with GFAP (green) for better visualization of the surrounding tissue. Brightness, contrast, and color balance were adjusted for better representation of the actual data. Scale bar in B represents 100 μm and applies to B-I.