PI3K/Akt Pathway Contributes to Neurovascular Unit Protection of Xiao-Xu-Ming Decoction against Focal Cerebral Ischemia and Reperfusion Injury in Rats
Figure 6
Representative images of vascular endothelial cell apoptosis in penumbra of ischemic cortex at 24 h after reperfusion. (a) Representative photomicrographs of immunofluorescence labeling with CD31 (red) and TUNEL (green) double staining. Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue). And collocation of green and blue indicated TUNEL positive cell in the same view. (b) Quantification of apoptotic vascular endothelial cells. TUNEL and CD31 double stained cells (yellow) indicated the apoptotic vascular endothelial cells. Cerebral ischemia and reperfusion induced a significant increase in apoptotic vascular endothelial cell which was prevented by XXMD treatment. However, LY294002 inhibited the antiapoptotic effect of XXMD on vascular endothelial cell. (c) Percentage of apoptotic vascular endothelial cell in CD31 positive cell. There were more nonapoptotic vascular endothelial cells in the XXMD-treated groups in the absence of LY294002 compared with the I/R group. LY, LY294002. Scale bar = 50 μm. Data are reported as the means ± SEM. ; * versus the I/R group.
