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Fig. 5 | Journal of Neuroinflammation

Fig. 5

From: Ultrastructural characterization of dark microglia during aging in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease pathology and in human post-mortem brain samples

Fig. 5

Ultrastructural signs of cellular stress in dark vs typical microglia. Representative 5 nm resolution scanning electron microscopy images taken in the ventral hippocampus CA1 stratum lacunosum-moleculare of 20-month-old APP-PS1 and C57BL/6J male mice. A Typical microglia (TM) in C57BL/6J mice without visible ultrastructural signs of cellular stress, B TM far from a plaque with altered mitochondria (green asterisk) (C) TM near a plaque with healthy endoplasmic reticulum cisternae (blue asterisk), (D) dark microglia (DM) near a plaque with altered mitochondria (green asterisk), healthy and dilated endoplasmic reticulum cisternae (blue and purple asterisks respectively) in APP-PS1 mice. Graphs representing the number and proportion of microglial cells with dilated endoplasmic reticulum and/or Golgi apparatus cisternae (E, H), altered mitochondria (F, I) and elongated mitochondria (G, J) are presented. Data shown are expressed as means ± S.E.M. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, **** p < 0.001 using a Kruskal–Wallis test with a Dunn’s multiple comparisons post hoc test. Statistical tests were performed on n = 9–12 microglia per animal with N = 3 mice/group, for a total of 111 microglial cell bodies analyzed. Red outline = plasma membrane, yellow outline = nuclear membrane, ma = myelinated axons, A = axon terminals, S = dendritic spines, orange asterisk = mitochondria, green asterisk = altered mitochondria, blue asterisk = endoplasmic reticulum, purple asterisk = dilated endoplasmic reticulum

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