title: Chronic stress induced disruption of the peri-infarct neurovascular unit following experimentally induced photothrombotic stroke.
abstract: How stress influences brain repair is an issue of considerable importance, as patients recovering from stroke are known to experience high and often unremitting levels of stress post-event. In the current study, we investigated how chronic stress modified the key cellular components of the neurovascular unit. Using an experimental model of focal cortical ischemia in male C57BL/6 mice, we examined how exposure to a persistently aversive environment, induced by the application of chronic restraint stress, altered the cortical remodeling post-stroke. We focused on systematically investigating changes in the key components of the neurovascular unit (i.e. neurons, microglia, astrocytes, and blood vessels) within the peri-infarct territories using both immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. The results from our study indicated that exposure to chronic stress exerted a significant suppressive effect on each of the key cellular components involved in neurovascular remodeling. Co-incident with these cellular changes, we observed that chronic stress was associated with an exacerbation of motor impairment 42 days post-event. Collectively, these results highlight the vulnerability of the peri-infarct neurovascular unit to the negative effects of chronic stress.
authors.affiliation: 1 School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy and the Priority Research Centre for Stroke and Brain Injury, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia.|2 Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.|3 NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence Stroke Rehabilitation and Brain Recovery, Australia.
authors.forename: Zidan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: 1 School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy and the Priority Research Centre for Stroke and Brain Injury, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia.|2 Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.|3 NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence Stroke Rehabilitation and Brain Recovery, Australia.
authors.forename: Lin Kooi
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Ong
authors.affiliation: 4 School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: 1 School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy and the Priority Research Centre for Stroke and Brain Injury, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia.|2 Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.|3 NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence Stroke Rehabilitation and Brain Recovery, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nilsson
authors.affiliation: 1 School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy and the Priority Research Centre for Stroke and Brain Injury, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia.|2 Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.|3 NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence Stroke Rehabilitation and Brain Recovery, Australia.
authors.forename: Frederick R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Walker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002452:Cell Count; D008297:Male; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D017628:Microglia / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D013312:Stress, Physiological
keywords: Stroke; chronic stress; glial cells; neuroinflammation; neurovascular unit