Fig. 4

Microglia and MC depletion abrogates the infiltration of NK and T cells into the virus-infected CNS. a, b Schematic showing experimental regimens used to deplete microglia (a) or MCs (b) in the CNS. Three principal groups were set up, mice were (1) fed PLX5622-formulated chow 21 days prior to infection and until sacrifice to deplete microglia (a), (2) injected with an anti-Ly6C monoclonal antibody (mAb) at dpi 5 and 6 or (3) injected with clodronate liposomes at dpi 5 to reduce MC CNS infiltration and sacrificed at dpi 7 (b). c Summary table showing the three experimental groups set up to reduce microglia and/or MCs in the infected CNS and the three relevant controls. d-g Number of microglia (d) and percent of Ly6C^hi macrophages (e), NK cells (f) and T cells (g) reduced in mice treated with PLX5622, anti-Ly6C and clodronate liposomes, relative to control chow-fed (AIN-76A), isotype-treated and untreated mice, respectively. h–k Correlation analysis between the number of Ly6C^hi macrophages and the number of NK cells (h), NK T cells (i), CD4⁺ T cells (j) and CD8a⁺ T cells (k) in WNV-infected mice at dpi 7. Data is presented as mean ± SEM from at least two independent experiments with at least seven mice per group