Fig. 5

Inhibiting RAGE-suppressed HMGB1- or SCI-induced pro-inflammatory polarization of macrophages/microglia. FPS-ZM1 (a RAGE-specific blocker) significantly reversed the increased mRNA of iNOS (a), CD86 (b), and TNFα (c) induced by HMGB1. N = 3, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. d Representative images of double-staining of iNOS and F4/80 in microglia under normal condition, HMGB1 or HMGB1plus FPS-ZM1 treatment. Scale bar = 30 μm. e Quantification of the percentage of iNOS-positive cells in F4/80-positive cells. Note that FPS-ZM1 significantly inhibited the increased number of iNOS-positive cells induced by HMGB1. N = 3, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. f–g Quantification of the expression levels of RAGE and p-NF-κB in microglia under different conditions. β-actin was used as a loading control. Data were expressed as mean ± SEM. N = 3, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01