Alterations of the neurovascular unit after ischaemic stroke in rats and mice
Based on numerous histological markers we analyse main components of NVU: basal membranes and endothelia of vessels, astrocytes, microglia, oligodendrocytes, neurons and extracellular matrix. Considering the hypothesis of an age-dependency of such alterations, we also apply differently aged, 3- and 12-month-old mice. Moreover, the study includes the comparison of ischaemia-related changes between wild-type mice and co-morbid, transgenic mice with age-dependent Alzheimer-like lesions.
A: Glial reaction 7 days after experimentally induced ischaemia in the forebrain of a rat. Immunofluorescence labelling of microglia/macrophages in the striatum and in the neocortex.
B: One day after experimentally induced stroke, the ischaemic region is devoid of aquaporin 4-staining (red), while the potato lectin (STL) detects apparently unaltered endothelial cells (green).