Fig. 6

T. gondii infection caused neurodegeneration in the mouse olfactory bulb and the pre-frontal cortex. Brains from mock-infected (control) mice and mice orally infected with 10 ME49 cysts for 30 and 60 days were collected and prepared as previously noted. a Brain sections (n = 4 mice per group) were fixed and stained with TUNEL (green), anti-NeuN (red), and DAPI (blue). Representative images from biological replicates were taken from the prefrontal cortex at ×20 magnification. n = 4 per group, scale bar = 20 μm. White arrows point to areas where T. gondii cysts are present, while red arrows show a NeuN⁺ TUNEL⁺ neuron in the vicinity of the cyst. b Representative cortical areas devoid of cysts that show significant presence of NeuN⁺ TUNEL⁺ neurons. n = 4 mice per group. c At least five different fields from the olfactory bulb and pre-frontal cortex were randomly selected from 2 to 3 mice/group and the number of TUNEL⁺ NeuN⁺ cells was quantified