Fig. 1

Characterization of glial reactivity in post-mortem ischemic stroke brain tissue. a-c Iba1 staining demonstrating ramified microglia and round macrophage-like cells in ≤2-day-old (a), 3–7-day-old (b), and ≥ 8-day-old (c) infarcts. d Scoring of Iba1 staining intensity demonstrating higher Iba1 expression in I/PI than in NAT in both microglia and macrophages. e-h CD45 staining demonstrating ramified microglia in ≤2-day-old infarcts (e) and round macrophage-like cells in 3–7-day-old (f) and ≥ 8-day-old (g) infarcts. h Scoring of CD45 staining intensity demonstrating higher CD45 expression in I/PI than in NAT in both microglia and macrophages. CD45⁺ macrophages were rarely detected in NAT. i-k CD68 staining demonstrating ramified microglia in ≤2-day-old infarcts (i) and round macrophage-like cells in 3–7-day-old (j), and ≥ 8-day-old (k) infarcts. (l) Scoring of CD68 staining intensity demonstrating higher CD68 expression in I/PI than in NAT in both microglia and macrophages. CD68⁺ macrophages were rarely detected in NAT. m-o GFAP staining demonstrating gemistocytic astrocytes in a ≤ 2-day-old infarct (m), shrunken astrocytes with absence of astrocytic processes in a 3–7-day-old infarct (n), and gemistocytic astrocytes in a ≥ 8-day-old infarct (o). p Scoring of GFAP staining intensity demonstrating comparable staining intensity in I/PI and NAT at all timepoints. GFAP, glial fibrillary acidic protein; Iba1, ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1; I/PI, infarct/peri-infarct; NAT, normal appearing tissue. Results are presented as mean ± SD. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001; one-way ANOVA followed by Sidak’s multiple comparisons test (n = 3–9/group). Scale bar = 40 μm