Figure 2. Vascular inflammation and endotheliopathy in Tgfbr2^Myeko mice.

(A) H&E showing vascular inflammation in brain sections from Tgfbr2^Myeko mice with signs of stroke. (a) middle cerebral artery (MCA); (b,d) posterior cerebral artery (PCA) (c) inflammation surrounding small vessels in the brainstem of Tgfbr2^Myeko and wt mice. Arrows indicate inflammatory vascular lesions, or normal PCA for panel 4. (B) Inflammatory cerebral vascular lesions (CD45 immune cells, brown) in brain from Tgfbr2^Myeko mice with stroke. Medium sized vessel of the cerebellum (a) compared with wt (b); Immune infiltrate surrounding small vessels in Tgfbr2^Myeko brains (c,d). (C) Immune infiltration surrounding small and medium vessels in Tgfbr2^Myeko mice pre-stroke. Von Willebrand factor (VWF, green) and immune cells (CD45, red) in brain of Tgfbr2^Myeko mice. Nuclei in blue (DAPI). CD45+ cells within a small blood vessel, notice elongated shape (a). Localization of CD45 outside of blood vessels and adjacent to VWF (all Tgfbr2^Myeko shown). Quantitative data on the right. (D) Breach of the blood brain barrier in areas of cerebrovascular inflammation in pre-stroke and post-stroke Tgfbr2^Myeko mice. Mice were sacrificed 1h after IV injection of fluorescent dextrans. (E) Increased endothelial activation in brains of Tgfbr2^Myeko mice pre-stroke. Inflammatory endothelium (ICAM1, red) and blood vessels (VWF, green). (F) ICAM1 Western blot of brain protein extracts from Tgfbr2^Myeko mice and wt controls. (G) Increased inflammatory infiltrate surrounding femoral arteries of Tgfbr2^Myeko mice following experimental wire injury. Immune cell IHC staining (CD45, brown) of tissue sections from femoral arteries 13 days after wire injury of Tgfbr2^Myeko mice compared with wt littermates (n=3). Shown are representative images. Quantitative data at right, ***p<0.001, *p<0.05.