Fig. 3

LVn-CNTF induces TSPO overexpression and microglial cell proliferation in the rat striatum. (a) Quantification of radioactivity (% injected dose (%ID)/g of tissue) in each dissected striatum by gamma-counting (n = 11 rats). A significant increase in TSPO binding is observed in the right striatum injected with LVn-CNTF. Paired t-test, *** p < 0.001. (b) Representative gates for cell sorting by flow cytometry in the LVn-LacZ hemisphere (upper panel) and the LVn-CNTF hemisphere (lower panel). From left to right, cells were selected based on their granularity and size, following by the selection of alive cells (Hoechst⁺) and singulets (not represented). Microglial cells (CD11b⁺) and neurons (CD90⁺) were selected in GFAP⁻/CD31⁻ double negative cells. The two last plots showed that astrocytes (GFAP⁺) and endothelial cells (CD31⁺) did not contaminate the microglial population. The percentage of alive cells (Hoechst⁺) is expressed in relation to cells. The percentage of each cell population is represented in relation to singlets. (c) Median fluorescence intensity (MFI) for each cell type in the right and left striatum measured during cell sorting (n = 11 rats). No difference was observed between hemispheres. Two-way ANOVA (viral vector and cell type as between factors). (d) Number of isolated cells normalized by the total number of cells. Numbers of astrocytes and endothelial cells are scaled on the left Y axis, whereas numbers of microglia and neurons are scaled on the right Y axis. An increased number of CD11b⁺ cells is observed in the right striatum compared to the contralateral side, suggesting a proliferation of microglia after LVn-CNTF injection (n = 11 rats). Two-way ANOVA (Viral vector and cell type as between factors) and Bonferroni’s post hoc test, *** p < 0.001