Fig 2: NLRP3 inflammasome activation contributes to hippocampal pathology in EAE mice.a Representative Nissl and H&E staining of the hippocampal DG region. b The quantitative analysis of intact hippocampal DG neurons. c Representative Golgi staining of the hippocampal DG region. d Representative magnified images of Golgi staining in the DG region of the three groups. e A graphical drawing showing neuron. At least 10 neurons from 6 mice per group were analyzed by Sholl analysis. f Representative images and the quantification of the spine number in the different groups. g Western blots and densitometric analysis for synapsin ? and PSD95. ß-actin was used as an internal control. The data are the mean ± SEM, n = 6 biologically independent animals, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01.

Fig 3: Effect of LIFUS on the expression of synaptic proteins. (A–D) The expression of NR2B, SYP, PSD-95, and CaMKII. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, *** p < 0.001 (CON, n = 6; VD, n = 4; VD + LIFUS, n = 4).

Fig 4: Effects of sleep deprivation (SD) on microglia-mediated synaptic pruning in adolescent mice. (a) Representative image of microglial phagocytosis of synapses, based on coimmunostaining against Iba1 (red) and PSD95 (green). (b) Comparison of the correlation coefficient of anti-Iba1 and anti-PSD95 immunostaining in the dentate gyrus (DG), CA1, and CA3 areas of the hippocampus. (c) Representative image of microglial lysosomes based on coimmunostaining against Iba1 (red) and CD68 (green). (d) Comparison of the correlation coefficient of Iba1 and CD68 costaining in the dentate gyrus (DG), CA1, and CA3 areas. (e) Levels of PSD95 in the hippocampus. (f) Levels of synapsin in the hippocampus. (g) Numbers of dendritic spines per unit length. Data are the mean ± standard error of the mean. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.005. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)