Hepatic but Not CNS-Expressed Human C-Reactive Protein Inhibits Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis in Transgenic Mice

Figure 2

CNS-restricted expression of the CaMKIIα-driven human CRP transgene and CRP production in the CNS of nCRPtg mice. ((a)–(c)) Thin coronal sections of brains from a wildtype (WT, (a)) and a nCRPtg mouse ((b) and (c)) were incubated with a digoxigenin-labelled antisense probe to localize human CRP mRNA or with a similarly labeled sense probe to reveal nonspecific hybridization. Note the strong hybridization signals generated by the antisense probe in the cerebral cortex (CC) and dentate gyrus (DG) of nCRPtg mice ((b); (b1) and (b2) are tenfold magnifications of the areas indicated). LV = lateral ventricle. ((d)-(e)) Frozen sections of wild type (d) and nCRPtg brains ((e); (e1) is a tenfold magnification of the indicated area) were incubated with a FITC-conjugated anti-human CRP antibody (green) and a Texas Red-conjugated anti-NeuN antibody (red). An orange-yellow color indicates colocalization of the FITC and Texas Red signals. DAPI (blue) was also used to stain cell nuclei. The dashed box in the cartoon shows the approximate position and orientation of the thin sections shown in (a)–(e).