Figure 6. LIFR mediates the beneficial effects of CD8⁺ TRLs after stroke.

(A) Transwell coculture system of brain slices collected 1 day after stroke and CD8⁺ TRLs from healthy spleens. RT-PCR analysis of Lifr, Tgfa, and Il10 24 hours after coculture. Kruskal-Wallis test and post hoc Dunn’s test. n = 6–16/group. (B) Anti-LIF antibody (60 ng/mL) was added to the CD8⁺ TRL–brain slice coculture system (as in A). The expression of Tgfa and Il10 was measured by RT-PCR 24 hours after coculture. n = 4–6/group. One-way ANOVA and post hoc Bonferroni’s test. CL, contralateral brain; IP, ipsilateral brain. (C–G) Spleen-derived CD8⁺ TRLs were pretreated with LIF (100 ng/mL), LIFR inhibitor (EC359, 100 nM), or PBS for 1 hour and then injected (i.v., 1 × 10⁶ cells) into recipient mice 2 hours after tMCAO. (D and E) LIF treatment enhanced ETGF and IL-10 expression in CD8⁺ TRLs. n = 3/group. Two-tailed Student’s t test. (F) Quantification of MAP2 staining and (G) Garcia score. n = 5–6/group. One-way ANOVA and post hoc Bonferroni’s test. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001.