Figure 3

Age-related upregulation of hippocampal astrocyte and microglial activation protein markers. (A) Immunoblotting for GFAP, an intermediate filament protein expressed by astrocytes and upregulated with inflammation, is significantly increased in CA1, CA3 and DG of both aged cognitively intact and aged cognitively impaired rats compared to adults. (B) Iba1, a microglia-specific calcium binding and actin-bundling protein, is significantly induced in CA1 and CA3, but not DG of aged animals, regardless of cognitive status, compared to adults. Insets depict representative immunoblot images. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, one-way ANOVA with Student Newman Keuls post hoc testing, n = 7-10/group.