Fig. 8

Lesions in the NMO-rat spinal cord depends on the presence of AQP4-Ab. a–c AQP4 expression and myelin (MBP) and axon (NF-M) integrity in the spinal cord (IHC on axial and longitudinal slices, scale bars = 20 μm) of the NMO-rat, Control-rat, and rat perfused with purified IgG depleted in IgG^AQP4+: NMO-rat^AQP4+dep (D7). d Quantification of fluorescence intensity and axon numeration showed that AQP4-Ab depletion reduced the lesion extend in the spinal cord analyzed for AQP4 (***p < 0.001) and MBP (***p < 0.001). e Depletion reduced the amount of AQP4-Ab in IgG^AQP4+dep by 40 %, as shown by flow cytometry analysis on HEK-AQP4 cells