Ry was exposed at its bifurcation. Branches from the external carotid

Ry was exposed at its bifurcation. Branches from the external carotid artery were coagulated. The pterygopalatine artery was ligated with a 5.0 silk suture. A 4.0 nylon monofilament was used for the occlusion. Heating to the tip of this filament made it rounded, and then it wasImmunohistochemistryOn postoperative day 16, for sacrificing, rats were anesthetized, and transcardiac perfusion with heparinized saline followed by 4 paraformaldehyde in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) was per-Figure 1. Experimental design. Among total of 59 rats, 35 rats underwent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), and 12 rats were used as sham-operated control. In 48 hours, the MCAO group was divided into either the exercise (n = 18) or non-exercise group (n = 17). Twelve rats were additionally used for determination of temporal change in the ischemic-exercise group (n = 12, n = 4 each and sacrificed at 9, 16, and 23 days following ischemia). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0052461.Ezatiostat gExpression of Neurotrophin 4 in IschemiaFigure 2. NT-4 expression profile. (A) Two forms, dimer (80 kDa) and monomer (40?7 kDa), were detected. Ischemia decreases monomer and dimer proteins in the ipsilateral region (Ipsi). Exercise increased monomer and dimer proteins in both hemispheres, particularly in the contralateral hemisphere in ischemia (# p,0.05, n = 7). Exercise-only increased dimer (* p,0.05, n = 7). (B) Expression of dimers increased at postinfarct day 23 in ischemia. Exercise increased dimer proteins at postinfarct as early as day 9 and particularly in the contralateral hemisphere at postinfarct day 23. (p,0.05, n = 6). (C) Dimer level is lowered in moderate to severe conditions. Exercise induces increased expression of dimers, more so in the milder condition (I: mild, II: moderate, III: severe) (p,0.05, n = 5). (D) The distribution of immunoreactivity by exercise increased adjacent to the ischemic region (b) comparing to the ischemia-only control (a). S = 100 um. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0052461.gformed. Using a sliding microtome, sections were cut at 30 um thickness. Blocking was done in a mixture of 10 normal goat serum (NGS), 1 bovine serum albumin (BSA), 0.2 Triton X100, and 1 H2O2 in PBS. After washing with PBS three times, primary antibody was incubated in 10 24195657 NGS and 1 BSA for 40 h at 4uC. For detection of NT-4 and trkB immunoreactivity, anti-NT-4 (1:300, Santa Cruz, CA, USA) and anti-trkB (1:300, Santa Cruz, CA, USA) antibodies were used. Immunoperoxidase labeling was performed using a DAB kit (Dako, Carpinteria, CA), and slides were evaluated using an Olympus BX51 microscope (Olympus, Japan) [6,18].electrophoresis using 10 polyacrylamide with 0.05 bisacrylamide [20]. Proteins were transferred to nitrocellulose membrane and probed with anti-NT-4 (1:300, Santa Cruz, CA, USA) and anti-trkB (1:300, Santa Cruz, CA, USA). Peroxidase anti-rabbit IgG (vector, PI-1000, 1:3000 dilution) was used as a secondary antibody. b tubulin (1:300, Santa Cruz, CA, USA) was used for an internal control. Signals were detected by enhanced chemiluminescence (Supersignal, Pierce, Rockford, IN, USA) using autoradiograms exposed from 10 to 30 min [6,18]. These experiments were repeated independently in triplicate.Statistical analysis Western blot analysisFor protein extraction, brains were dissected into right and left hemispheres and placed on ice in 10 volumes of cold homogenization buffer (50 mM Tris, 120 mM NaCl, pH 7.4). Protease inhibitors (FGF-401 biological activity Complete Mini, Gibco, Grand Islan.Ry was exposed at its bifurcation. Branches from the external carotid artery were coagulated. The pterygopalatine artery was ligated with a 5.0 silk suture. A 4.0 nylon monofilament was used for the occlusion. Heating to the tip of this filament made it rounded, and then it wasImmunohistochemistryOn postoperative day 16, for sacrificing, rats were anesthetized, and transcardiac perfusion with heparinized saline followed by 4 paraformaldehyde in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) was per-Figure 1. Experimental design. Among total of 59 rats, 35 rats underwent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), and 12 rats were used as sham-operated control. In 48 hours, the MCAO group was divided into either the exercise (n = 18) or non-exercise group (n = 17). Twelve rats were additionally used for determination of temporal change in the ischemic-exercise group (n = 12, n = 4 each and sacrificed at 9, 16, and 23 days following ischemia). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0052461.gExpression of Neurotrophin 4 in IschemiaFigure 2. NT-4 expression profile. (A) Two forms, dimer (80 kDa) and monomer (40?7 kDa), were detected. Ischemia decreases monomer and dimer proteins in the ipsilateral region (Ipsi). Exercise increased monomer and dimer proteins in both hemispheres, particularly in the contralateral hemisphere in ischemia (# p,0.05, n = 7). Exercise-only increased dimer (* p,0.05, n = 7). (B) Expression of dimers increased at postinfarct day 23 in ischemia. Exercise increased dimer proteins at postinfarct as early as day 9 and particularly in the contralateral hemisphere at postinfarct day 23. (p,0.05, n = 6). (C) Dimer level is lowered in moderate to severe conditions. Exercise induces increased expression of dimers, more so in the milder condition (I: mild, II: moderate, III: severe) (p,0.05, n = 5). (D) The distribution of immunoreactivity by exercise increased adjacent to the ischemic region (b) comparing to the ischemia-only control (a). S = 100 um. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0052461.gformed. Using a sliding microtome, sections were cut at 30 um thickness. Blocking was done in a mixture of 10 normal goat serum (NGS), 1 bovine serum albumin (BSA), 0.2 Triton X100, and 1 H2O2 in PBS. After washing with PBS three times, primary antibody was incubated in 10 24195657 NGS and 1 BSA for 40 h at 4uC. For detection of NT-4 and trkB immunoreactivity, anti-NT-4 (1:300, Santa Cruz, CA, USA) and anti-trkB (1:300, Santa Cruz, CA, USA) antibodies were used. Immunoperoxidase labeling was performed using a DAB kit (Dako, Carpinteria, CA), and slides were evaluated using an Olympus BX51 microscope (Olympus, Japan) [6,18].electrophoresis using 10 polyacrylamide with 0.05 bisacrylamide [20]. Proteins were transferred to nitrocellulose membrane and probed with anti-NT-4 (1:300, Santa Cruz, CA, USA) and anti-trkB (1:300, Santa Cruz, CA, USA). Peroxidase anti-rabbit IgG (vector, PI-1000, 1:3000 dilution) was used as a secondary antibody. b tubulin (1:300, Santa Cruz, CA, USA) was used for an internal control. Signals were detected by enhanced chemiluminescence (Supersignal, Pierce, Rockford, IN, USA) using autoradiograms exposed from 10 to 30 min [6,18]. These experiments were repeated independently in triplicate.Statistical analysis Western blot analysisFor protein extraction, brains were dissected into right and left hemispheres and placed on ice in 10 volumes of cold homogenization buffer (50 mM Tris, 120 mM NaCl, pH 7.4). Protease inhibitors (Complete Mini, Gibco, Grand Islan.