Laser capture microdissection was performed on PEN-membrane mounted and toluidine-stained brain sections.

<p>A: Three areas, namely cerebral cortex (cor), infarct core (inf) and contralateral striatum (cnl) were cut out of specimen and total RNA for subsequent analyses was extracted. B: Total RNA integrity of each sample was measured with an Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer (exemplary data shown). Distinct peaks for 18S and 28S rRNA indicate intact RNA. Only total RNA with a RNA integrity number greater than or equal to 6 was used for subsequent reverse transcription and qRT-PCR. C: Real-Time PCR data showed no significant differences of IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α and G-CSF expression between wildtype and MCP-1-deficient control animals. D: Infarct size assessed 12 and 36 hours after MCAO. Lesion volume is expressed as percentage of the ipsilateral hemisphere. Values represent mean ± SD, *p<0.05.