Generation of Honeycomb and Jellyfish Microglia After Focal Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI)

Representative time lapses of activated honeycomb and jellyfish microglia (green) captured by 2-photon microscopy through a surgically thinned skull in a CX3CR1gfp/+ mouse immediately after mTBI. Part 1, Immediately after mTBI, microglia extend connecting processes that circumscribe individual astrocytes at the glial limitans. This interconnected network of processes resembles a honeycomb structure. Part 2, In areas of cellular death, microglia project large disklike structures that resemble jellyfish. These jellyfish microglia participate in phagocytosis and can fill the holes in the glial limitans left by dead astrocytes.