Fig 1: LAG-3 deficiency exerts stage-dependent effects on microglial gene expression. A Principal component analysis (PCA) of microglial transcriptomes from P120 and P140 in SOD1G93A/LAG-3+/+ and SOD1G93A/LAG-3−/−. n = 3 per group. B Summary of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from two-way ANOVA analysis. Bars show number of upregulated and downregulated genes for disease progression effect (P140 vs P120 in each genotype), LAG-3 KO effect at early stage (P120), LAG-3 KO effect at late stage (P140), and genotype-by-stage interaction (stage-dependent LAG-3 KO effect). C Expression trajectories of representative DAM markers showing stage-dependent responses to LAG-3 deletion (z-score normalized). n = 3 per group. Mean ± SEM. D Representative immunofluorescence images showing Dectin-1 (Clec7a) and Axl expression in Iba1+ microglia/macrophages in lumbar spinal cord from P140 SOD1G93A/LAG-3+/+ and SOD1G93A/LAG-3−/−. Scale bars: 40 μm. E KEGG pathway enrichment analysis of genes upregulated in P120 SOD1G93A/LAG-3−/− microglia compared to P120 SOD1G93A/LAG-3+/+. F, G KEGG pathway enrichment analysis of genes upregulated (F) or downregulated (G) by LAG-3 deletion specifically at late stage (interaction term)