Aquaporin-4 reduces neuropathology in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease by remodeling peri-plaque astrocyte structure

Increased amyloid accumulation and more fibrillar plaques in Aqp4 deficient 5xFAD mice. a Distribution of immunolabeled Aβ plaques in the brain of Aqp4 deficient and wild-type 5xFAD littermate at low and intermediate magnifications, and representative high magnification images of individual plaques. b Average plaque size in each mouse (left panel), cumulative plaque size distribution of all amyloid plaques in 5xFAD mice of each genotype, (center left panel), density of plaques in cortex (center right panel) and total amyloid load (right panel), as determined by intensity thresholding and automated object counting. * p？<？0.05, ** p？<？0.01 by unpaired t-test. Lines show mean and S.E.M. of each genotype, n？=？8 Aqp4+/+ and 5 Aqp4？/？ mice. c Aβ immunolabeling and thioflavin S staining showing dense core (asterisk), fibrillar (solid arrow) or mixed (open arrow) plaques. d Fraction of plaques in each class. *** p？<？0.001, *p？<？0.05, n.s p？>？0.05 by 2-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post-tes