Fig. 4

BAX contributes to but is not required for caspase-3 activation following neonatal H-I. Bax expressing and bax −/− mice showed DEVD-AMC cleavage activity (caspase-3-like activation) in the hippocampus and cortex ipsilateral to the ligation 24 hours following hypoxia. In this experiment, bax +/− mice were bred together and H-I was performed at P7. DEVD-AMC cleavage activity was assayed with tissue lysates from the hippocampus and cortex contralateral (R) and ipsilateral (L) to the carotid ligation 24 hours following H-I. Data are presented as mean +/− SEM. DEVD-AMC cleavage activity was not statistically different when comparing bax +/+ and bax +/− mice so data from these 2 groups were pooled. A significant difference was seen when comparing DEVD-AMC cleavage activity in the left hippocampus (ipsilateral to carotid ligation) of the bax +/+ and +/− mice (N = 36) vs. the bax −/− mice (N = 11) * P < 0.05.