Figure 2

Microglial p38α MAPK deficiency prevents LPS-induced neurotoxicity in microglia/neuron co-cultures. Primary cortical neurons were co-cultured with primary microglia from p38α WT or p38α KO mice. The microglia/neuron co-cultures were stimulated with 3 ng/ml LPS for 72 h, then neurons analyzed by trypan blue exclusion assay. Representative photomicrographs of the neuron cultures are shown in (A). The arrow indicates a live neuron typical of the non-LPS stimulated co-culture. The arrowhead shows a dead neuron that is positive for trypan blue. In microglia from p38α WT mice, LPS produced a significant decrease in neuronal survival (B; ***p < 0.001). No significant neuron death was seen in microglia from p38α KO mice stimulated with LPS. Data represents 3 independent experiments.