Fig. S3.

Occurrence of mitotic GFAP + cells 4–5 weeks post-ischaemia. Microphotographs showing stacks of images, generated with confocal microscopy, taken from thick coronal sections of rat brain tissue 4 weeks after MCAO. In A, high levels of immunostaining for GFAP (in red, marking astroglial cells) and for laminin (in blue, marking swelled blood vessels and deposition in the parenchyma) reveal the histological features of the ischaemia-affected area in the striatum. In B, a part of the adjacent to the lesion SEZ is depicted, characterized by the same histological features (high levels of gliosis and blood vessel swelling). In C, the contralateral (unaffected) SEZ is depicted being negative for gliosis and blood vessel swelling. The same areas are shown in the middle panel only with DNA counterstaining of nuclei (in blue) and with immunostaining for PH3 (in green). Note the rarity of mitotic figures in the gliotic area of lesion, compared to the numerous PH3 + cells observed in the affected (and thicker) SEZ. Mitotic activity is also high (but lower that in the affected SEZ) in the contralateral SEZ. In the lower panel, examples of mitotic cells included in A′, B′ and C′ are shown in higher magnification and immunostained both for PH3 (green) and GFAP (red). The numbers indicate the cell shown in more detail. The only mitotic GFAP + cell is No. 2 in B′. [White bars indicate the width of the SEZ].