Fig. 1

Reduced clinical EAE and histopathology in VPAC1 KO vs. WT mice. EAE was induced by immunizing mice subcutaneously with 100 μg of MOG_35–55 in CFA supplemented with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. EAE clinical scores were monitored daily on a scale of 0 to 4 as described in the “Methods” section. Spinal cord microsections were stained with luxol fast blue (for demyelination) and hematoxylin-eosin (for immune cell infiltration), and histopathology was scored from 0 to 3 as described in the “Methods” section. a Clinical curve displaying mean clinical scores ± SEM of immunized WT vs. VPAC1 KO mice, representing the summation of three experiments (n = 18 mice per genotype). b Clinical curve displaying mean clinical scores ± SEM of immunized WT mice pretreated with PBS or a VPAC1 antagonist, representing the summation of two experiments (n = 15 for WT-PBS and n = 11 for WT-VPAC1 antagonist). c Mean histopathological score at day 30 of three experiments ± SEM (n = 12 in each group). ***p < 0.001 Student’s t test. ND = not determined. d Low- (×4) and e high- (×20) magnification photomicrographs of day 30 WT and VPAC1 KO mice transverse thoracolumbar spinal cord sections