Figure 3

Effects of BAb on microglial morphology and cell number in SN. Representative sections of SN in different groups were immunostained with antibodies against CD11b (a microglia marker) (D-I) and MHC II (a marker for activated microglia) (J-O) 21 days after 6-OHDA-injection. G-I and M-O are higher magnifications of the fields outlined by rectangles in D-F and J-L respectively. Scale bar: 500 μm in D-F and J-L; scale bar: 50 μm in G-I and M-O. Representative microglia in different stages (stage1-4) of CD11b immunostaining are shown in yellow circles (stage1: P1; stage2: P2; stage3: P3; stage4: P4), and a representative of stage 4 MHC II-ir microglia is shown in panel Q. Scale bar:10 μm in P1-P4 and Q. Microglia cell numbers and morphology were stereologically analyzed in each group. (A) Data represents average increase of CD11b-ir microglia cell number in ipsilateral SN as compared to contralateral SN (n = 5) ± S.E.M. #:P < 0.001. (B) Stereological quantification of each stage of CD11b-ir microglia is depicted as the average percentage distribution per group. # p < 0.001 compared to every other group. (C) Stereological quantification of stage 4 MHC II-ir cells throughout the SN from different experimental groups is shown in bar graph; n = 5, value = mean ± S.E.M. #: P < 0.001 significant difference compared to every other group.