Figure 1 Absence of cortical demyelination and preservation of aquaporin-4 (AQP4) in cerebral cortex of patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO)
Cortical demyelination is absent and AQP4 is preserved in a normal distribution in the frontal (A-D), insular (E-G), and temporal (I-L) cortices of NMO brains. Cortical areas within rectangles in (A), (E), and (I) are shown at higher magnification in (B), (F), and (J), respectively. Insets (D) and (L) show intense AQP4 immunoreactivity concentrated in the end-feet of protoplasmic astrocytes abutting the blood vessels. Inset (H) shows intense AQP4 immunoreactivity in glia limitans. (A, B, E, F, I, J) Proteolipid protein. (C, D, G, H, K, L) AQP4. (A, I) Scale bar = 1.5 mm. (E) Scale bar = 1 mm. (B, C, F, G, J, K) Scale bar = 500 μm. (D, H, L) Scale bar = 25 μm.