Fig. 3

Brains of MRL/+ → MRL/lpr mice are phenotypically similar to MRL/lpr → MRL/lpr mice. Staining for fibronectin (a, in red), indicative of BBB disruption, demonstrates extravasation of this serum protein into the brain tissue of MRL/+ → MRL/lpr and MRL/lpr → MRL/lpr chimeric mice, while unmanipulated MRL/+ (not shown) and MLR/+ → MRL/+ mice had staining restricted to the vascular lumen. Fluoro Jade C staining (b, in green) revealed increased degeneration in the cortices of MRL/+ → MRL/lpr and MRL/lpr → MRL/lpr mice. Representative images of fibronectin staining were taken with a ×40 objective, and the staining quantitated as described in the “Methods” section. Representative images of Fluoro Jade C staining were taken with a ×20 objective, while cell counts were performed on three representative ×40 fields per mouse. Error bars = SEM, *p < 0.05, ****p < 0.0001