Fig. 1

Partial microglial depletion by PLX3397 in aged Tg4510 mice. a Representative images of Iba-1 positive microglia in the somatosensory cortex of wild-type (WT) and Tg4510 (TG) mice treated with and without PLX. b Iba-1 labeling in a single PLX treated wild-type mouse was near completely absent in the cortex, though deeper layers had occasional ramified and amoeboid cells. c The total number of microglia in cortex per mm³ were quantified by stereology. The mouse from (b) is indicated by an open circle. d CSF1R gene expression was measured by qPCR in PLX treated and untreated mice as well as in a separate 6 month (e) group of mice. Fifteen month mice in panel (e) are the same as those in panel (d) and were run on the same qPCR plate. f Six different disease-associate microglial markers were assessed by qPCR from PLX treated and untreated mice. All were elevated in Tg4510 animals. All data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA with Sidak’s multiple comparisons. Error bars represent means ±Std. Dev. ***p < 0.001; *p < 0.05