Fig. 2. TRAF2 knockdown increased infarct volumes, brain cell death and neuroinflammation following MCAO.

a–b Representative images of western blot analysis (a) and quantification (n = 3) (b) of TRAF2 expression in the contralateral and ipsilateral striatum of mice injected with NC shRNA or TRAF2 shRNA at 24 h after reperfusion. Lentiviruses expressing NC shRNA or TRAF2 shRNA were injected into the right striatum 14 days prior to MCAO. Then, MCAO was induced in the right hemisphere of lentivirus-injected mice. N.S.: not significant; **p < 0.01. Sham: sham-operated mice. NC: mice injected with lentivirus expressing NC shRNA. TRAF2 KD: mice injected with lentivirus expressing TRAF2 shRNA. C: contralateral side. I: ipsilateral side. c Representative TTC staining images of the brain slices from control or TRAF2 knockdown mice at 24 h after reperfusion. d TRAF2 knockdown significantly reduced acute infarction in the striatum at 24 h after MCAO (n = 7). N.S.: not significant; **p < 0.01. CTX: cortex. ST: striatum. HMSPH: hemisphere. Corrected: hemisphere infarction corrected for edema. NC: non-targeted control. KD: TRAF2 knockdown. e Representative images of PI staining in the ipsilateral striatum of sham-operated mice, mice without lentivirus infection (MCAO), mice ipsilaterally intrastriatally infected with NC shRNA lentivirus (MCAO + NC) or TRAF2 shRNA lentivirus (MCAO + TRAF2 KD) at 24 h after reperfusion. Scale bar: 50 μm. f Quantification of the amounts of PI⁺ cells in the ipsilateral striatum (n = 5). N.S.: not significant; **p < 0.01. CON: mice without lentivirus infection. g–j The mRNA levels of TRAF2 (g, n = 3), pro-inflammatory mediator TNFα (h, n = 3), iNOS (i, n = 3) and CD32 (j, n = 4) at 24 h after reperfusion in the striatum of mice injected with NC shRNA lentivirus (NC) or TRAF2 shRNA lentivirus (KD) in the right striatum. N.S.: not significant; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. Sham: sham-operated mice