Figure 6.

Reduction in ischemic brain injury with post-ischemic CTMP siRNA treatment. (A) A time-course study of CTMP mRNA levels in the ischemic cortices of rats subjected to 60 min of MCA occlusion and various reperfusion periods as in Figure 1. Three rats for each group and each band represents a data point that was extracted from an independent brain sample. Representative RT-PCR bands are shown in the upper panel and bar graphs below are compiled data shown as mean ± SD (n = 3). (B) Rats were subjected to icv infusion of CTMP siRNA at 25, 50, or 75 pmol (si 25, si 50, or si 75, respectively) or 75 pmol of scramble RNA (sc 75) right after 35 min of MCA occlusion, and infarct volume was measured at 24 h of reperfusion. Representative images of brain infarct are shown at the bottom. (C) The apoptosis-related proteins were measured at 24 h of reperfusion. Three rats for each group and each band represents a data point that was extracted from an independent brain sample. Representative Western blot bands are shown in the left and bar graphs aside are compiled data shown as mean ± SD (n = 3). (D) Rats were subjected to icv infusion of CTMP siRNA 2 h after 35 min of MCA occlusion, and infarct volume were measured at 24 h of reperfusion. Representative images of brain infarct are shown at the bottom. Data are expressed as mean ± SD (n ≧ 6). ★ p < 0.05 and ★★ p < 0.01 vs. controls. White area represents infarct area (yellow arrow). (Bars = 1 cm). CTMP: carboxyl-terminal modulator protein; ATF3: activating transcription factor 3; MCAO: middle cerebral artery occlusion; scRNA: scramble RNA; siRNA: small interfering RNA.