Fig. 5

N-Aβcore protects against engulfment of presynaptic elements in 5xFAD mice. A Representative orthogonal views of Iba1 (yellow) and CD68 (red) labeled microglia in contact with or containing synaptophysin-positive (Syn +) inclusions (green) in 3-month-old B6SJL or 5xFAD organotypic slice cultures counterstained with DAPI after 7 days daily treatment with media only (Control) or 1 μM N-Aβcore. Images obtained on a Leica SP8 confocal microscope using a 63X objective. Scale bar: 10 μm. B The number of Iba1 + CD68 + labeled microglia in contact with Syn + presynaptic elements after treatment as described in A. (n = 150 per treatment group). C The number of Iba1 + CD68 + labeled microglia containing Syn + inclusions (n = 150 per treatment group). D The number of Iba1 + CD68 + labeled microglia containing small Syn + inclusions (n = 150 per treatment group). E The number of Iba1 + CD68 + labeled microglia containing large Syn + inclusions (n = 150 per treatment group). F Diagram depicting microglia-dependent synaptic pruning under normal (left panel) and elevated Aβ (right panel) conditions. The addition of 1 μM N-Aβcore attenuates the increase in synaptic pruning induced by elevated levels of Aβ. n represents the number of cells. Data points are averages from each experiment (n = 50 cells per experiment), with a total of n = 150 cells examined across 3 slices per treatment group in 3 separate experiments. Data are means ± SD, analyzed via one-way ANOVA with Dunnett post hoc test