Figure 5.

NO-activated MMP-9 leads to laminin degradation in the ischemic cortex after MCA occlusion/reperfusion. A, Laminin immunoreactivity (red) and Hoechst DNA stain (blue). Deconvolution microscopy revealed that laminin immunoreactivity was significantly reduced in the ischemic cortex of wild-type mice (top right) compared with the contralateral nonischemic control hemisphere (top left). Laminin degradation in the ischemic cortex was attenuated after MCA occlusion/reperfusion in either wild-type mice treated with the specific nNOS inhibitor 3-bromo-7-nitroindazole (3br7NI; bottom left) or in nNOS KO mice (bottom right). Scale bar, 25 μm. B, Quantification of Ln-positive cells in cortex was determined 24 h after reperfusion. Data represent mean ± SEM on 600-1000 cells counted from each brain section (n = 5 in each group; ^*p < 0.001 compared with control group and ^#p < 0.001 compared with ischemic group by ANOVA). Error bars represent SEM.