Fig. 7

Peripheral EphA4 deficiency reduces apoptotic cell count and improves cerebral blood flow and BBB stability after CCI injury. A Experimental outline. B–G, M Apoptotic TUNEL + (purple) cell count is reduced in WT^{+KO BMCs} (B, D, E) compared to WT^{+WT BMCs} (C, F, G) mice. The total number of TUNEL + and GFP + /TUNEL + cells (M) was counted using image J in 3 serial sections using 5 × 7 tiled z-stack confocal images. H, I, N Cerebral blood flow is improved in WT^{+KO BMCs} compared to WT^{+WT BMCs}. Blood flow was measured using laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) at 10 min and 3 days post-injury and presented as a percentage perfusion of the baseline. J–L Blood–brain barrier permeability is improved in WT^{+KO BMCs} (K) compared to WT^{+WT BMCs} (J). The volume of IgG deposition was measured at 3 dpi in serial coronal sections using Cavalieri Estimator from StereoInvestigator (L). N = 5–6 mice/group. Ns = non-significant; *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001. t-tests (L) or multiple t-tests (M, N). Scale bar = 500 µm in B, C, J, K and 50 µm D–G