A total of 138 mice were used in this study (102 C57BL/6 male mice and 36
nestin-CreERT2-R26R-YFP male mice). Male mice were used in this study to reduce
experimental variability in stroke. The animals were subjected to the following
experiments: 28 mice were subjected to MCAo and received either vehicle or SAG
treatment from post-stroke day3–8. Mice were subject to locomotion
behavioral functional test before MCAo and at 3, 7, 21, 28 days after MCAo.
Additional 36 mice were subjected to MCAo and received either vehicle or SAG
treatment (post-stroke day3–8) and were evaluated for Barnes maze test
to evaluate memory and learning at 30 days post stroke. 18 mice from the Barnes
maze test group were subjected to MRI study on post-stroke day2 and 30 to
evaluate ischemic damage and CBF. To evaluate the effect of SAG treatment on
Barnes maze performance on control mice, mice received SAG or vehicle treatment
(10mg/kg for 6 days, n= 9 for each group) without surgery and were
subjected to Barnes Maze test 21 days later. To evaluate the proliferation of
SVZ and SGZ cells, Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) pulse labeling were carried out on
post-stroke day 6 after either vehicle or SAG treatment and brain were harvested
24 hours later to quantify BrdU+, PCNA+ (proliferating cell
nuclear antigen) or Ki67+ cells (20 mice). To evaluate neurogenesis and
long-term survival of NSC progeny: 20 nestin-CreERT2-R26R-YFP mice were treated
with tamoxifen (TAM) to induce yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) labeling of SVZ
and SGZ NSCs and treated with either vehicle or SAG (post-stroke day
3–8). YFP+, DCX+ or NeuN+ cells were analyzed by
unbiased stereological method at 30 days post stroke. Mice from the MRI study
and the nestin-CreERT2-R26R-YFP were combined to analyze the DCX+ cells
and angiogenesis as well. To examine gene expression in SVZ NSCs, additional 16
nestin-CreERT2-R26R-YFP mice were subjected to MCAo and SAG or vehicle treatment
(post-stroke day 3–8) and SVZ tissue microdissected using methods
described in
13 (link) for
quantitative RT-PCR. To evaluate angiogenesis by histochemistry, brain sections
from post-stroke day 30 mice were subjected to immunostaining using two
different markers, alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and CD31 and
quantitatively analyzed as described in detail in the
supplemental information.
All the experimental groups are randomized and all outcome analysis was
carried out by independent study team members blinded to the treatment
condition. Details on experimental timeline, randomization and blinding of
groups, animal numbers for each experiment, and survival rate/exclusions due to
death are included in
online
supplemental data. Details on each assay are also included in
online supplemental
data.
Jin Y., Barnett A., Zhang Y., Yu X, & Luo Y. (2017). Post-stroke shh agonist treatment improves functional recovery by enhancing neurogenesis and angiogenesis. Stroke, 48(6), 1636-1645.