Photochemically induced cerebral ischemia in a mouse model.
BACKGROUND
MCAO has been widely used to produce ischemic brain lesions. The lesions induced by MCAO tend to be variable in size because of the variance in the collateral blood supply found in the mouse brain.


METHODS
We modified the rat photothrombosis model for use in mice. Male C57BL/6 mice were subjected to focal cerebral ischemia by photothrombosis of cortical microvessels. Cerebral infarction was produced by intraperitoneal injection of rose bengal, a photosensitive dye, and by focal illumination through the skull. Motor impairment was assessed by the accelerating rotarod and staircase tests. The brain was perfusion fixed for histologic determination of infarct volume 4 weeks after stroke.


RESULTS
The lesion was located in the frontal and parietal cortex and the underlying white matter was partly affected. A relatively constant infarct volume was achieved 1 month after photothrombosis. The presence of the photothrombotic lesion significantly impaired the motor performance as measured by the rotarod and staircase tests. Our findings show that photothrombotic infarction in mice is highly reproducible in size and location.


CONCLUSIONS
This procedure can provide a simple model of cerebral infarction for a unilateral motor cortex lesion. In addition, it can provide a suitable model for the study of potential neuroprotective and therapeutic agents in human stroke.
Lee
Jung-Kil
JK
Department of Neurosurgery, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju 501-757, South Korea. jkl@chonnam.ac.kr <jkl@chonnam.ac.kr>
Park
Min-Sung
MS
Kim
Yeon-Seong
YS
Moon
Kyung-Sub
KS
Joo
Sung-Pil
SP
Kim
Tae-Sun
TS
Kim
Jae-Hyoo
JH
Kim
Soo-Han
SH
D000818:Animals; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D020767:Intracranial Thrombosis / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012395:Rose Bengal / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D012395:Rose Bengal