Fig. 2
From: Rescuing macrophage normal function in spinal cord injury with embryonic stem cell conditioned media
Macrophages are the Primary Myelin Phagocytosing Cells in SCI. Using a CX3CR1GFP/+ transgenic mouse model of SCI, tissue sections were stained with ORO to show the localization of lipids within cells after injury. a The distribution of lipid droplets in CX3CR1 strongly positive cells (microglia, CX3CR1+++) and weakly positive or negative cells (BMDMs, CX3CR1-/±) at the lesion sites at different time points after SCI. b Imaging of the entire injury site at 6 weeks shows the progressive exclusion of microglia (CX3CR1+++) from epicenter where the majority of the lipids are retained. c Staining of F4/80 provides clear cell membrane boundaries to further validate the localization of the lipids predominantly within the BMDMs (F4/80+CX3CR1-/±, yellow arrows) with less being localized to the microglia (F4/80+CX3CR1+++, red arrows). d Quantification of myelin debris phagocytosis in BMDMs, astrocyte, and microglia by detecting intracellular MBP by ELISA (n = 3). (*p < 0.05) Data are represented as means ± SD