Fig. 3

Increased astrocyte activation in IL-10 KO mice with malaria. Mice were infected with P. chabaudi and sacrificed 8 days post-infection. Thick sagittal brain sections (2 mm) were CLARITY-processed, optically cleared, stained with GFAP (red), and imaged by two-photon confocal microscopy. a, c, e IL-10 KO and b, d, f WT brains from the peak of P. chabaudi infection (day 8 p.i., n = 5 mice/group). a, b Single fields of the entire tissue section (× 10) stitched together. c, d Hippocampus of the thick brain section is masked for increased resolution and quantitation in c IL-10 KO and d WT animals (n = 3 mice/group). e, f Representative high-resolution image (× 25) of astrocytes from the hippocampus showing the e IL-10 KO and f WT control brains. g Quantification of the percent area of astrocyte staining above threshold in the hippocampal formation of the P. chabaudi-infected IL-10 KO and WT brains. Number of fields for IL-10 KO (n = 15) and WT (n = 9). Scale bars represent 1 mm (a, b), 200 μm (c, d), and 50 μm (e, f). Student’s t test was used to determine statistical significance. **p < 0.01