Fig. 1

VDR expression is robustly upregulated in microglia/macrophages after cerebral ischemia. A qRT-PCR analysis of the relative Vdr mRNA expression in the sham brain and ischemic brain of mice on day 1, 3, and 7 after the surgery (n = 9:5:5:7). B, C Quantification of VDR protein in the sham and ischemic brain by taking sham brain as 1.0 (n = 6:5:5:5). D, E Representative immunofluorescence images of VDR with Iba1, GFAP, and NeuN in the sham brain cortex, peri-infarcted regions, and infarct cores of mice 3 days after MCAO (D). Dashed lines divide the infarction core and ischemic penumbra. Scale bar, 40 µm. E Shows the percentage of VDR⁺ cells among Iba1⁺, GFAP⁺, and NeuN⁺ cells, respectively (n = 3 per group). F, G Quantification of VDR protein in normoxia controls and OGD-treated primary microglia taking normoxia as 1.0 (n = 4 per group). Normoxia represented a “sham” control to OGD. Each symbol represents one biological replicate. Data are expressed as mean ± SD. Kruskal–Wallis test with Dunn’s post hoc test for A. One-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s post hoc test for C, E, and G. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001