Figure 4

Quantification of microglia/leukocytes in the naïve, 3 days, and 6 weeks injured spinal cord. (A) Representative immunohistochemical staining for CD11b in naïve wild-type (WT) and IκBα-dn mice and 6 weeks (wks) following spinal cord injury (SCI). (B) The total number of CD11b⁺ cells were significantly increased in naïve IκBα-dn mice compared to WT mice and significantly increased 6 weeks after SCI in both IκBα-dn and WT mice. Each bar represents the average cell count ± SEM. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, N = 4 to 9 animals per group. (C) Representative photomicrographs of immunohistochemical stainings for toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in the injured spinal cord white matter of WT and IκBα-dn mice, showing a robust staining on CD11b⁺ microglia/leukocytes from the chronically injured IκBα-dn mice. (D) Western blot quantification showing a significant increase in TLR4 in IκBα-dn mice (TG) compared to WT mice 6 weeks after SCI. N = 3 to 4 animals per group, *P < 0.05. DAPI, 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole.