Comparison of matrix metalloproteinase activation after focal cortical ischemia in young adult and aged mice.

Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity is implicated in the degradation of the extracellular matrix during cerebral ischemia. Although many studies have demonstrated spatiotemporal patterns of activation of gelatinases (MMP-9 and MMP-2) after ischemic stroke in young adult rodents, no data exist on MMP activity in old brains. In this study, we investigated the gelatinolytic activity in young adult (3-month-old) and aged (1-year-old) mice subjected to photothrombotic stroke.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of astroglial and microglial responses after photothrombotic stroke in the rat brain.

The effects of photothrombotic stroke in primary somatosensory cortex on astroglial and microglial activation in various regions of lesioned brain were examined at different time points, using immunohistochemistry and lectin binding. The increase in GFAP expression was observed exclusively in the ipsilateral hemisphere, both in the perilesional area and cortical regions distant from the infarct. This remote increase was detectable up to sixty days after the infarct.