(a) Timeline of the experimental design for the treatment with vehicle and ganciclovir (GCV). (b) Confocal images of immunoreactivity for Olig2 (Olig2, green) and NG2 (NG2, magenta) in NG2-HSVtk transgenic rats treated with vehicle (Control) or GCV at doses of 10 and 0.5 mg/ml for 1, 2 or 7 days [GCV (10 mg/ml) 1d, GCV (10 mg/ml) 2d, GCV (0.5 mg/ml) 2d, GCV (0.5 mg/ml) 1w]. (c) The number of NG2 glial cells (immunopositive cells for Olig2 and NG2) in animals treated with vehicle or GCV. Mean ± SD, n = 3 rats [Control, GCV (0.5 mg/ml) 2d, GCV (0.5 mg/ml) 1w] or 5 rats [GCV (10 mg/ml) 1d, GCV (10 mg/ml) 2d]; ***p < 0.001, based on a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey-Kramer test. (d) Confocal images of immunoreactivity for PDGFRβ (a marker of pericytes; magenta) and Glut1 (a marker of endothelial cells; green) in animals treated with vehicle or GCV for 1, 2, or 3 days. (e) Percentages of pericyte coverage in animals treated with vehicle or GCV. The pericyte coverage was determined as a ratio (%) of PDGFRβ-positive area on the Glut1-positive capillary to the total Glut1-positive area. Mean ± SD, n = 3 rats (Control, GCV1d, GCV2d, and GCV3d); N.S., non-significant, p > 0.05, based on a one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey-Kramer test (c,e). Scale bars represent 100 μm (b,d).