Delayed onset of EAE in Panx1 KO mice.

<p>(<b>A - right</b>) Time course of clinical signs recorded from Panx1 wild type (WT) and Panx1 knockout (KO) mice immunized for MOG. (<b>A-left</b>) The graph depicts the initial acute phase of the disease (blue rectangle in <b>A</b>) showing that up to day 12 post-immunization, a significant difference in clinical scores was detected between the two genotypes. Symbols represent mean ± s.e.m. Twenty two Panx1 WT and 22 Panx1 KO female mice were immunized. Thirteen days post-immunization (dpi), 5 animals of each genotype were used for histopathology; 6 Panx1 WT and 2 Panx1 KO died or were euthanized due to the severity of EAE symptoms. *P<0.01, unpaired t-test. (<b>B</b>) Hematoxylin & eosin stained sections of spinal cord from Panx1 WT and Panx1 KO mice obtained at the acute phase of EAE (12–13 dpi). Ventral funiculus is outlined in white box and inflammatory lesions are outlined in cyan. Bar histograms on the right represent the mean ± s.e.m values of the percent lesion area in each genotype. Note that Panx1 KO EAE spinal cords exhibit significantly less infiltrating cells than spinal cords from WT mice. Five Panx1 WT and 5 Panx1 KO mice were used for histology; three spinal cord sections from sacral to thoracic areas were analyzed from each mouse. (<b>C</b>) Hematoxylin & eosin stained sections of spinal cord from Panx1 WT and Panx1 KO mice obtained at the chronic phase of EAE (35 dpi). Bar histograms on the right represent the mean ± s.e.m values of the percent lesion area in each genotype. At this stage of disease, Panx1 WT and Panx1 KO spinal cords exhibit similar extent of lesion areas. Five Panx1 WT and 5 Panx1 KO mice were used for histology. Three sections from sacral to thoracic spinal cords were analyzed from each mouse. Quantification of lesions is presented as percent area of ventral funiculus white matter occupied by inflammatory cells. P values were obtained using unpaired t-test.