FIGURE 6.

Ciglitazone accelerates the appearance and organization of α-smooth muscle actin-positive myofibroblasts. Mice (n = 5–7 per group) received i.p. injections of PBS or ciglitazone (50 mg/kg/day) beginning at 3 days following an intracerebral infection with S. aureus, with treatment continuing daily until termination of the experiment. Animals were sacrificed at 3 days following ciglitazone treatment (corresponding to day 6 post-infection), whereupon brain tissues were flash frozen on dry ice for subsequent cryostat sectioning. Serial 10-µm thick sections were prepared throughout the entire abscess, subjected to immunofluorescence staining for α-smooth muscle actin (red), and imaged by confocal microscopy. α-smooth muscle actin immunoreactivity is shown along the peri-abscess area in the vicinity of the developing wall, where the dark areas represent necrotic regions. Enlarged zoom image represents a 63X oil immersion confocal scan. Results are representative of two independent experiments.