Fig. 1

Increased microglial activation in the brain of Cdkl5 KO mice. A, C Quantification of AIF-1-positive cells in hippocampal (Hippo) and somatosensory cortex (Cortex) sections from 3-month-old male (+/Y n=4, -/Y n=4; A), and female (+/+ n=5, +/- n=6; C) Cdkl5 KO mice. B Representative fluorescence images of cortical sections processed for AIF-1 immunohistochemistry of a wild-type (+/Y) and a Cdkl5 KO mouse (-/Y). The dotted boxes in the upper panels indicate microglial cells shown in magnification in lower panels. D Distribution analysis of microglial cell soma area in the somatosensory cortex of 3-month-old male (+/Y n=4, -/Y n=4 on the left), and female (+/+ n=4, +/- n=6 on the right) Cdkl5 KO mice, showing a shift to larger cell body sizes in the absence of Cdkl5. E Distribution analysis of microglial cell circularity (roundness) in the somatosensory cortex of Cdkl5 KO mice as in D. In Cdkl5 KO mice, microglial cells are more irregularly shaped (lower roundness index) showing a left-shifted distribution compared to that of wild-type mice. The results in A and C are presented as means ± SEM. * p<0.05; ** p<0.01 (two-tailed Student’s t-test). The results in D and E are presented as means ± SEM. * p<0.05; ***p<0.001 (Fisher’s LSD test after two-way ANOVA)