Fig. 5

Activated caspase-3 is present in bax +/− and −/− neurons following neonatal H-I. Activated caspase-3-IR is observed in the injured (left) hemisphere 24 hours following unilateral (left) carotid artery ligation and exposure to hypoxia for 45 minutes at P7. Activated caspase-3-IR was examined in hippocampal sections at low power (A, B, E, F) and high power (C, D, G, H) in bax +/− (A–D) and bax −/− (E–H) mice. In-situ caspase-3 activation is especially evident in neuronal nuclei the hippocampus (arrow), but was also seen in the cortex ipsilateral to the ligation. Qualitatively, there were fewer cells with caspase-3 activation observed in bax −/− mice (F and H) as compared to bax +/− mice (B and D), confirming results with DEVD-AMC cleavage assay. Scale bar in F for A, B, E, and F, 50 µm. Scale bar in H for C, D, G, and H, 20 µm.