Figure 2

Impaired laminin expression in COX-2 knockout (COX-2KO) mice following ischemic injury. Lower magnification images of cresyl violet staining ((A), upper) on brain sections from wild-type (WT control) and COX-2KO, mice that were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Sections shown were collected 12 h after MCAO and stained with cresyl violet. White dotted lines demarcate the infarct. *P <0.05 compared to WT control or WT vehicles. (B,C) Extracellular matrix (ECM) protein expression in extracts from ipsilateral sides after MCAO was analyzed for Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), CD14, fibrin(ogen), collagen IV (B), and laminin levels (α, β and γ subunits) (C) and was quantified using the ImageJ software, normalized against α-tubulin and graphed as fold difference in mean intensity. *P <0.01 compared to the contralateral WT and COX-2KO sides at 12 h (C12). Data were obtained from at least five animals in each group.