Fig. 1

In vivo experimental results suggested that the CD151 downregulation had a protective function after experimental stroke. a, b In vivo experiment design. Rats were subjected to LV shCD151/LV vehicle subventricular injection 7 days prior to 2-h middle cerebral artery occlusion ischemia surgery. After 24- or 72-h reperfusion, rats underwent a sacrifice or b behavioral test. c Successful lentivirus transfection was detected by GFP expression in brain cryosections both in the LV vehicle and LV CD151 shRNA groups; the white dotted line showed the right lateral ventricles (scale bar = 500 μm). d Rat’s brain tissue for infarct volume (TTC), brain water content (BWC), and Evan’s blue (EB) measurements. e Infarction volume measured using TTC (n = 6 per group). ** vs. LV Vehicle + MCAO indicates p < 0.01. f BWC 24 h after reperfusion (n = 6 per group, no significant difference was found). g EB test for the evaluation of BBB degradation (n = 6 per group). *** vs. LV Vehicle + MCAO indicates p < 0.001. h Neuronal apoptosis at 24 h after reperfusion (n = 3 per group, scale bar = 100 μm). ** vs. LV Vehicle + MCAO indicate p < 0.01. i Neurobehavioral tests, including Longa’s score, Bederson score, forelimb placing test, beam walk test, 24 h and 72 h after reperfusion (n = 6 per group). *, **, and *** vs. LV Vehicle + MCAO indicate p < 0.05, 0.01, and 0.001, respectively