Fig. 2

Representative micrographs showing ischemia-affected striatal areas of 4 h pMCAO, 2 h pMCAO, 1 h pMCAO and 30 min pMCAO animals. Vascular basement membranes are outlined by collagen IV immunolabeling while the endothelial surface is delineated by I-B4 staining. Of note, contralateral non-affected vessels show perfect co-localizations of I-B4 and collagen IV immunolabeling (inset). However, vessels showing FITC-albumin (FITC) extravasations (2 h and 4 h pMCAO) exhibit a discontinuous and patchy I-B4 staining pattern. Here, the vessels are partially devoid of any I-B4 staining, at all (arrow heads). In ischemia-affected areas of 1 h pMCAO animals, the endothelial I-B4 staining appeared slightly thinned and less intense. In vessels of 30 min pMCAO animals, the endothelial I-B4 signal did not differ when compared to the contralateral areas. Nuclei were visualized with DAPI. Scale bar: 10 μm