Fig. 1

Global ST2 deficiency enhances brain infarct volumes and BBB damage following experimental stroke. (A-C) MAP2 and IgG staining were used to determine the infarct volume and BBB damage, respectively, in WT and ST2 KO mice 3 days after 60 min–40 min tMCAO. Shown are representative coronal sections stained with anti-MAP2 (A, green) or anti-IgG (B, red) antibodies. (C) Top: Surface plot images generated from IgG immunostaining. Middle and Bottom: Representative images of IgG, and IgG/CD31 double staining in the peri-infarct areas. (D) Quantification of infarct volumes. (E) Quantification of IgG intensity in the ipsilesional hemisphere. (F) Representative double labeling of CD31 (red) and ZO-1 (green). Red inset boxes in the top left image illustrate the imaging areas for the quantification of CD31 and ZO-1 staining. Areas in the white insets were enlarged and reconstructed in 3D, as shown on the right column. (G) Quantification of the ratio of CD31⁺ vessels covered by ZO-1 staining (top) and diameters of CD31⁺ vessels (bottom) 3 days after tMCAO. (H) Representative immunoblots and quantification of ZO-1 protein levels in the ischemic hemisphere and contralateral hemispheres (Contra) collected 3 days after 60 min tMCAO. β-actin was used as the loading control. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. Student’s two-tailed t test (G bottom), one-way ANOVA followed by post hoc Bonferroni test (D, E, G top), or Brown-Forsythe and Welch ANOVA test (H)