A Novel Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease with Chronic Estrogen Deficiency Leads to Glial Cell Activation and Hypertrophy
Figure 4
Immunocytochemical assessment of neuronal and glial status in primary hippocampal cultures treated with letrozole. Primary dissociated hippocampal cultures were treated with letrozole (1 μM, 24 hrs), following which immunocytochemical analysis was performed for cell-specific markers. (a) Neurons ((A) and (B)) were stained with antibodies against beta III tubulin (1 : 100), astrocytes ((C) and (D)) with anti-GFAP (1 : 500), and microglia ((E) and (F)) with anti-Mac-2 (1 : 350). Note the marked astrocyte hypertrophy in letrozole-treated cells. Arrowheads indicate enlargement of the neuronal processes following Lz treatment. Arrows in (F) outline activated microglia, which exhibit increased mac-2 staining. ((G) and (H)) MitoTracker Deep Red 633 staining revealed truncated mitochondria in Lz-treated cells compared with control, indicative of increased mitochondrial fission and potentially mitochondrial dysfunction. Scale bar (20 μm) in first panel is representative for all panels. (b) Quantification of stained area per cell for neurons (-tubulin), astrocytes (GFAP), and microglia (mac-2) following letrozole treatment.
