Experimental protocol.

<p>(A) D-glucose was injected intraperitoneally at 15 min before 1-h transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Following MCAO, the mice were re-perfused for 2 h and then injected with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (tPA, <i>n</i> = 7), phosphorylated recombinant heat shock protein 27 (prHSP27, <i>n</i> = 6), tPA plus prHSP27 (tPA+prHSP27, <i>n</i> = 7), or bovine serum albumin (BSA, <i>n</i> = 9). The mice were sacrificed 24 h later. (B) Representative photomicrographs of infarct areas stained with cresyl violet at 24 h after reperfusion. Infarct areas are circumscribed with dotted lines. prHSP27 decreased brain infarct size. Scale bar = 2 mm. (C) Brain swelling. (D) Infarct volume corrected for edema. *<i>p</i> < 0.05, §<i>p</i> < 0.001. (E) prHSP27 improved neurological severity scores at 1 h following MCAO and at 24 h following reperfusion in mice treated with the above substances. Data are mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM; <i>n</i> = same as above). *<i>p</i> < 0.05: tPA and prHSP27 vs. tPA, §<i>p</i> < 0.001: BSA vs. prHSP27.