Histological Staining

The spinal cords were isolated from LPC and EAE mice and cut into continuous paraffin sections (4 μm). For Luxol fast blue (LFB) staining, sections were stained with LFB solution overnight in a humid incubator at 60°C, then rinsed with 95% ethanol for 5 min, 0.05% lithium carbonate, and 70% ethanol for 20 s, then washed with water.

For hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, sections were stained with hematoxylin for 3 min–5 min, then rinsed in ethanol with 1% HCl for 10 s and 1% ammonia water, then counterstained with eosin. After dehydration through a series of graded ethanols and cleared with xylene, the sections were mounted in Permount mounting medium (Fisher Scientific, Pittsburgh, PA).