Figure 1. Rac GTPase Activation Contributes Significantly to Neuronal Cell Death in the Hippocampus CA1 Region Following Global Cerebral Ischemia (GCI).

(A) NSC23766 significantly attenuated cerebral ischemia-induced Rac1 activity at 3 h after ischemia. *Represents P<0.05 (four to 5 animals) vs. reperfusion 3 hour (R3h) and saline treatment groups. (B) Representative hippocampal CA1 sections from sham, saline–treated (ischemia) and NSC23766-treated (ischemia) male rats were labeled with NeuN (Blue), TUNEL (Red) and FJadeB (Green) staining at 7 d following GCI. Merged images represent CA1 neurons undergoing degeneration, indicated by white staining. (C) Quantification showed that NSC23766 was strongly neuroprotective of CA1 region. Data was obtained from five independent animals and a typical experiment is presented. Results are expressed as neuronal density with mean ± SE. ^* p<0.05 vs. sham control and NSC23766.