Figure 1

PTX3 promotes neurogenesis in vivo after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) and in vitro . Less nestin-positive profiles are found in the dentate gyrus (DG) of PTX3 knockout (KO) mice compared to wild-type (WT) mice 6 days after MCAo (A) although BrdU levels in that area are not significantly different (B). BrdU-nestin double immunofluorescence reveals some proliferating nestin-positive cells (C). BrdU-nestin staining in the subventricular zone (SVZ) (D) shows that PTX3 KO mice have significantly less BrdU staining than WT mice in that area 6 days after MCAo (E), and the same trend, although not significant, is observed for nestin (F) and DCX (G). Images show no colocalisation between BrdU and NeuN in the SVZ, striatum or hippocampus 14 days after MCAo, indicating that newly formed neurones might not be mature at this time point (H). PTX3 (100 ng/ml) induces neural stem progenitor cell (NSPC) proliferation, as shown by BrdU/DAPI ratio after 24 h treatment (I, J). BrdU and DAPI staining in NSPC cultures (J). PTX3 (100 ng/ml) treatment of NSPCs for one week increases neurosphere formation in WT, but not in IL-1β KO cultures (K). Scale bars: 200 μm (A), 80 μm (D), 100 μm (H), 50 μm (I). Students t-test ((A), n = 4 to 6; (B), n = 4 to 5; (E), (F) and (G), n = 5; (I), n = 4) or two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s post-hoc test ((K), n = 4) were used. *P <0.05, **P <0.01, ***P <0.001, ###P <0.001. In (K),*WT control versus other experimental groups, #WT PTX3 versus IL-1β KO PTX3. Error bars show SEM.