Fig. 1
From: Deletion of p38α MAPK in microglia blunts trauma-induced inflammatory responses in mice
Validation of conditional microglial knockout of p38α. a A cell-specific reporter (Ai9ΔCX3CR1CreERT2) was used to validate the compartment restriction of tamoxifen-induced recombination. Ai9ΔCX3CR1CreERT2 mice were placed on tamoxifen chow for 28 days, followed by a washout of 28 days on regular chow. In naïve mice, brain myeloid and blood PBMCs were examined for tdTomato (RFP) expression in tandem with CD11b (BUV395) expression. After the 28 day washout, 90.1% of CD11b+ cells were labeled with RFP, whereas only 2.56% of circulating PBMCs were RFP+. b Myeloid-enriched fractions from naïve wild type (WT) and knockout (KO) mice were examined for p38α (MAPK14) gene expression following the tamoxifen washout procedures. Compared to WT mice, the p38α KO mice showed a significant reduction in p38α. Flow cytometry plots are representative of 3 separate experiments. For gene expression, n = 4 per group. Data were analyzed using Student’s t test, *p < 0.05. RFP red fluorescent protein, SSC side scatter