Fig. 4

Transplantation of IL-13 Mφs improves functional and histopathological outcomes after spinal cord injury. a–i Immediately following injury, C57BL/6j mice received vehicle, M2 Mφs or IL-13 Mφs. a IL-13 Mφs transplantation significantly improved functional outcome compared to vehicle and M2 Mφs. Data are shown as mean ± SEM. n = 20–22 mice/group.*IL-13 Mφs versus vehicle, # IL-13 Mφs versus M2 Mφs. Two independent experiments. b, c Quantification of lesion size (b) and demyelinated area (c), determined by the GFAP and MBP negative area, showed that these were reduced in IL-13 Mφ-treated mice compared to control. Data were normalized to vehicle and are shown as mean ± SEM. n = 11–13 mice/group. d–i Representative images from the spinal cord sections are shown. Lesion size (GFAP⁻, d–f) and demyelinated are (MBP⁻, g–i) were determined as depicted by the dotted white line. Scale bar = 500 µm. One way ANOVA (b, c) or two-way ANOVA (a) with Bonferroni post hoc test. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ****P < 0.0001