Research Paper Volume 15, Issue 3 pp 630—649

Figure 5. Platelet depletion increases astrocytic coverage of fibrillary amyloid plaques. (A, B) Brain tissue stained for amyloid plaques (green, thioflavin S) and astrocytes (white, GFAP) was used to analyze astrocyte-plaque interactions in the hippocampus. (C) Platelet-depleted mice showed increased overlap between astrocytic processes and amyloid plaques. (D, E) This effect was observed independent of sex. (F, G) Morphological analysis of plaque-associated astrocytes revealed increased (H–J) process length and (K–M) branching in platelet-depleted females but not in males. Data are shown as mean ± SEM. Statistical analysis was performed by unpaired Student’s t test (n = 8–9/group; “full forms” represent females and “empty forms” males). ^***p < 0.001; ^**p < 0.01; ^*p < 0.05. Scale bar: 10 μm. Abbreviation: ThioS: thioflavin S.