Fig. 3

Blast TBI affects pericytes and capillaries differently in APP/PS1 mice and wild type mice. A–E Maximum intensity projection of a confocal image stack demonstrating PDGFR-β immunofluorescent signal (A, D1, E1, green) associated with capillaries labeled with a fluorescent lectin (B, D2, E2, LEL, red). Merged pairs of images with DAPI-stained nuclei are shown in panels C, D3, and E3. Asterisks in panels A–C mark the position of two pericytes shown at higher magnification in panels D1–D3 and E1–E3 where arrows demarcate the area occupied by each pericyte. F–H Graphs showing total numbers of pericytes (F), pericytes per capillary length (G), and capillary densities (H) in experimental groups. N = 3 mice/group. Two-way ANOVA (pericytes): F (3, 16) = 22.15, p < 0.0001 (row). Two-way ANOVA (capillaries): F (3, 16) = 38.98, P < 0.0001 (row); F (1, 16) = 3.299; P = 0.0297 (column); F (3, 16) = 8.448, P = 0.0014 (interaction). Brackets indicate differences of P < 0.05. Scale bar = 25 µm (A-C) 5 µm (D1-D3, E1-E3)