Sutures

Two-month-old male C57/BL6J mice weighing about 25 g were purchased from the Animal Model Center of Nanjing University (Nanjing, Jiangsu, China). All procedures were approved by the Animal care and Use Committee at Nanjing University. In Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion (MCAO) model, mice were anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium (45 mg/kg i.p.). A 6/0 sutures (Doccol Corporation, MA, United States) was inserted through internal carotid artery into the beginning of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) until the ipsilateral blood flow of MCA supply territory decreased to below 30% of baseline monitored by a laser Doppler flowmetry (Perimed Corporation, Stockholm, Sweden). After 60 min, the filament was withdrawn to allow blood reperfusion. Sham-operated groups underwent the same procedures expect for the insertion of the filament into the MCA. The mice were subjected to the dose of 5 mg/kg T16ainh-A01 and Caccinh-A01 or the same amount of saline by caudal vein injection within 15 min after the onset of reperfusion.