Figure 2: Glial scar and scar ablation. Glial scars with sharp edge are pointed out by arrows in A (H.E. staining) and B (GFAP immunostaining). Five minutes after being injected into the lesion cavity, rose Bengal (in pink) was absorbed by the superficial cells with the morphology of astrocytes (larger arrows in C) of the glial scar. Macrophages (MΦ) within the lesion cavity and some other astrocyte-like cells (small arrows) underneath the superficial cells were also stained in different degree, but no cell in deeper spared tissue was stained by the rose Bengal. Following illumination rose Bengal-stained cells of the glial scar were obviously damaged (area between arrows and broken line in D; H.E. staining); a part of damaged glial scar has sloughed off (between arrowheads and broken line), resulting in the spared tissue being exposed. The transplanted LP is present within the lesion cavity close to the spared tissue. Some of the degenerating or demyelinated axons in the spared tissue are marked with asterisks (*). Scale bars: 0.1 mm (A, B), 0.2 mm (C, D). (Replicated from Zhang, 2011 with permission).