Fig. 1

Microglia numbers decrease following cranial irradiation. A Experimental timeline (created with BioRender.com) B Representative images of microglia in the same area of the S1 over time at Baseline, Day 0 (5–9 h post-irradiation), Day 1, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, and Week 4. Scale bar: 100 microns. C Example images of microglia after binarization (top) and outlines of microglia identified in binarized images superimposed on original images (bottom). D Percent change in microglial cell number for control and irradiated mice over time. Top panel shows individual animals over time while the bottom panel compares the percent change in cell number between control and IR groups. Percent of microglial cells lost or gained over time in E control and F Irradiated mice. Percent of microglial cells lost and gained at G Week 1, H Week 2, I Week 3, and J Week 4 in control and Irradiated mice. Mixed-effect analysis with Bonferroni’s post-hoc comparisons (D) or Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test with Bonferroni-Dunn’s correction for multiple comparisons (G–J). * = p < 0.05. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. Each data point represents an individual animal. n = 7–10 mice per timepoint per group