Follicular Dendritic Cell-Specific Prion Protein (PrPc) Expression Alone Is Sufficient to Sustain Prion Infection in the Spleen
Figure 6
Effect of FDC-restricted PrPC-ablation on FDC status.
A) IHC analysis of the status of FDC (C4-binding cells and CD21/CD35+ cells; red), B cells expressing CD45R (red), and CD3+ T cells (green). Morphometric analysis confirmed that there were was no significant difference in the size (B) and number (C) of the CD35+ FDC networks in spleens of mice from each mouse group (n = 32 FDC networks/group). D and E), Comparison of the sympathetic innervation in spleens from Prnpflox/-→CD21-Cre Prnpflox/-, CD21-Cre Prnpflox/-→CD21-Cre Prnpflox/-, CD21-Cre Prnpflox/-→Prnpflox/-mice and Prnp+/-→Prnp+/- control mice. D) IHC detection of TH-positive sympathetic nerves (green) and FDCs (CD35+ cells; red). Scale bar, 50 µm. E) Quantitative analysis of the relative positioning of the FDC networks and sympathetic nerves showed there was no significant difference in the average distance between these cell populations in spleens from each mouse group (P = 0.765, n = 48 FDC networks/group). For all panels n = 6 mice/group.