Immunofluorescence detection of newly formed HSP72-containing neurons (BrdU+NeuN+HSP72+DAPI-positive cells) in the frontal cortex (A) and striatum (B) 3 days after MCAO. For group abbreviations, see the Methods section. Upper panels: the immunofluorescence images are representative of results from different groups of animals. Lower panels: values represent the mean ± SD of ten rats per group. *P<0.05, EP++MCAO-+siRNA-vector vs. EP-+MCAO-+siRNA-vector; +P<0.05, EP++MCAO-+siRNA-HSP72 vs. EP++MCAO-+siRNA-vector; §P<0.05, EP++MCAO++siRNA-vector vs. EP-+MCAO++siRNA-vector; and #P<0.05, EP++MCAO++siRNA-HSP72 vs. EP++MCAO++siRNA-vector. Arrows denote newly formed HSP72-containing neurons.