Fig. 6

Chronic optogenetic stimulation of GABAergic neurons altered microglia number and morphology, upregulated expression of phagocytic markers and enhanced phagocytic activity in APP mice. (A) Representative confocal Z-projections depicting Iba-1 positive microglia (Green) and Methoxy-XO4 positive plaques (Blue). (B-E) Microglia number (B), microglia cell body volume (C), microglia process length (D) and the number of plaque associated microglia (E). (F) Gating strategy used to identify CD11b + CD45lo microglia. The proportion of Aβ-phagocytic microglia (MeX04 + microglia). (G) Quantitation of the microglial cell population. (H) Quantification of the Methoxy-X04⁺CD11b⁺CD45^low microglia. (I-K) Quantitation of microglial CD36 (I), CD68 (J) and CSF-1R (K) expression. All data are expressed as means ± standard error. The number of mice examined: n = 6 mice/group. *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01. n.s. not significant. Scale bars: 50 μm