Fig. 3

RNA sequencing analysis of the striatum reveals that NG2 glial cell ablation perturbs brain immune homeostasis and exacerbates neuroinflammation after exposure to LPS. a A Venn diagram analysis of the differentially expressed genes between DTR^NG2 SAL and CTRL SAL mice or between DTR^NG2 LPS and CTRL LPS mice. The sum of numbers shown in each big circle is the total number of differentially expressed genes in the comparison group. The overlapping part between the two circles is the number of differentially expressed genes that are common among the comparison groups. b Hierarchical clustering of genes regulated by the interaction of LPS treatment and NG2 cell ablation (i.e., the area in part of right circle in purple in a. Profiles are shown in a color scale where blue is low and red is high. n = 3 per group. c A volcano plot of P values as a function of weighted fold change between DTR^NG2 saline and control groups. Red and green dots represent the upregulated and downregulated mRNAs. Some genes with higher significance values are annotated. d The top 20 differently regulated KEGG pathways by NG2 cell ablation alone. Asterisks indicate the 10 functional categories that are related to the immunological response. e A volcano plot of P values as a function of weighted fold change between DTR^NG2 LPS and CTRL LPS groups. Some genes with higher significance values are annotated. f The top 20 differently regulated KEGG pathways between DTR^NG2 LPS and CTRL LPS groups. g Heatmaps showing the expression (log₂ ratio) of differentially expressed genes of six functional categories that show the most dramatic changes according to their indicated KEGG pathways