Fig. 4

Astrocyte activation was exacerbated in the brains of sEH^−/− mice treated with LPS. Confocal imaging shows that astrocyte activation was exacerbated in sEH^−/− mice that received intraperitoneal injections of LPS compared to Wt counterparts, as evidenced by the enlarged morphology of GFAP-positive astrocytes in both the cortex and hippocampus (a). A magnified image of the boxed area is presented at the lower left of each image for a closer look of GFAP immunoreactivity. This notion is supported by the semi-quantification data, showing that the total intensity of GFAP immunoreactivity is increased in sEH^−/− mice with LPS (n = 5, p < 0.05 for cortex and p < 0.001 for hippocampus) compared to Wt counterparts (n = 6). Similarly, Western blot analysis also shows increased protein expressions of GFAP and iNOS in both the cortex and hippocampus of sEH^−/− mice that received intraperitoneal injections of LPS compared to Wt counterparts, although changes of cortical iNOS were not significant (b). Representative blot images for Wt or sEH^−/− were obtained from the same blot membrane. Data are presented as the mean ± SEM. Statistical analysis was performed using Student’s t test and significance is indicated. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01