Fig. 4

Increased Cd11b⁺ CD45^high cells during early neurodegeneration. Flow cytometry was used to identify cell types recruited during retinal degeneration. a Dissociated cell suspensions were gated to select alive, single cells. There was a significant decrease in the number of alive, single cells in the retinal samples at all time points except between 72 and 96 h (light gray), but no significant difference in the choroid (medium gray) or blood (dark gray) samples. b Cd11b⁺ cells were gated into CD45^high (orange) and CD45^low (green) populations. There were very few Cd11b⁺ CD45^high cells in the retina at 0 h (light orange); however, by 24 h the number increased dramatically and remained well above baseline at 96 h. There were no significant changes in the choroid (medium orange) or blood (dark orange). c The number of retinal Cd11b⁺ CD45^low cells (green) remained constant through the first 72 h, then showed a significant population increase at 96 h. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001; n.s. = not significant; error bars are SEM from 3 to 5 mice (blood) or 6–9 retinas/choroids per time point