Fig. 5

Inhibition of astrocyte reactivity drastically reduces TSPO signal. (a) A second cohort of rats was injected with LVn-CNTF + LVa-BFP (inflammation induced) and LVn-CNTF + LVa-SOCS3 (astrocyte reactivity inhibited) in the left and right striatum, respectively. (b) Representative images of the area devoid of GFAP + astrocytes in the right striatum (left panel). Scale bar = 1 mm. Representative confocal images showing lower GFAP (magenta) and TSPO (grey) expression in presence of SOCS3 (right panel). Scale bar = 25 μm. Quantification of GFAP levels (c), TSPO density (d, %TSPO⁺ area), and TSPO expression in GFAP⁺ astrocytes (e, %TSPO⁺/GFAP⁺ area) in the injected area of both striata (n = 3 rats). The inhibition of the JAK2-STAT3 pathway in astrocytes drastically reduced TSPO expression. Paired t-test, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01