Fig. 4

Western blot analysis confirms the relatively mild effect of cuprizone on CD1 mice compared to C57BL/6 following 4 weeks of cuprizone exposure. a, b, Representative western blot images of MBP, MAG, Iba1, GFAP and NG2 protein. Arrows point to the bands used for quantification of MBP, GFAP and NG2, respectively. c–g, Statistical analysis of the reduction of MBP, MAG, Iba1, GFAP and NG2. Densitometric data are normalized to β-tubulin and relative to control mice. The decrease in MBP levels are not statistically different in the two strains, while the reduction of MAG level shows significant difference between the two strains (**P < 0.01 in t-test, N = 6 and 8 for C57 and CD1, respectively). The change in Iba1 and NG2 levels after cuprizone treatment are also significantly different between strains (**P < 0.01 in t-test; *P < 0.05 in t-test. N = 6 and 8 for C57 and CD1 mice, respectively). Error bars show SEM. Insets in c–g show comparison of protein levels of the two strains using 8–9 weeks old unlesioned corpus callosum samples, with data normalized to average of C57BL/6 mice. None of the comparisons show significant difference between the two strains