Research Paper Volume 14, Issue 22 pp 8944—8969

JAK2/STAT3 pathway mediates neuroprotective and pro-angiogenic treatment effects of adult human neural stem cells in middle cerebral artery occlusion stroke animal models

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Figure 6. Roles of JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway in neuroprotective activity of ahNSCs. (A) Viability of primary cortical neurons of each group was determined by MTT assay (n = 3 per group). *** P < 0.001. (B) Left. Representative images of immunofluorescence against MAP2 and TUNEL staining of primary cortical neurons (n = 3 per group). Scale bar = 100 μm. Right. Percent of TUNEL-positive cells was analyzed and compared. Mean ± SD. * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01, *** P < 0.001. (C) Left. Representative images of immunofluorescence against p-STAT3 and NeuN of primary cortical neurons (n = 3 per group). Scale bar = 100 μm. Right. Relative ratio of p-STAT3-positive cells was analyzed and compared. Mean ± SD. ** P < 0.01, *** P < 0.001. (D) Left. Expression of JAK2, p-JAK2 (125 kDa), STAT3, p-STAT3 (79/86 kDa), and cleaved-caspase 3 (17/19 kDa) of primary cortical neurons (n = 3 per group) was accessed by western blot analysis. The pictures show representative images. β-actin (43 kDa) = loading control. Right. Expression of p-JAK2, p-STAT3, and cleaved-caspase 3 was normalized by JAK2, STAT3, and β-actin, respectively, and then compared. Mean ± SD. * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01, *** P < 0.001.