Fig. 2

Pregabalin protected neuron from radiative microglia-mediated damage. A Schematic diagram of the in vitro experiments. B Representative images of MAP-2 and β-tubulin co-labeling in neurons. C Statistics of the neuronal dendric numbers among the different groups. D Q-PCR analysis of Il-1β, Il-6, Tnf-α, Cox-2, iNos, and Icam-1 mRNA levels in BV2 cells incubated with supernatant from injured or non-injured neuron. E Schematic diagram of radiation-induced secondary damage of neurons. F Schematic diagram of the co-culture system between microglia and neurons. G Q-PCR analysis of Il-1β, Il-6, and Tnf-α mRNA levels in microglia after co-culture with neurons. H-I ELISA analysis of IL-1β and TNF-α protein levels in microglia after co-culture with neurons. J Representative images of MAP-2 and β-tubulin co-labeling in neurons after co-culture with microglia. K Statistics of the neuronal dendric numbers. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA followed by the Student’s t-test analysis. All other groups were compared with the indicated group. n = 3–6 for each group. Data were presented as mean ± SEM, ns = not significant, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001. Four groups were established for in vitro study: control cells (Con), control cells treated with pregabalin (PGB), irradiated cells (Rad), and irradiated cells treated with pregabalin (Rad + PGB)