3.4 NSC-Exos alleviated edema and decreased the expression of AQP4 protein after MCAO
Cerebral ischemia can cause edema, and cerebral edema caused by ischemic stroke is closely related to the prognosis (Zhao et al., 2020). Aquaporin AQP4 plays an important role in the pathogenesis of cerebral edema (Sun et al., 2022). Therefore, in order to observe the effect of NSC-Exos on cerebral edema after injury, we detected cerebral edema content and AQP4 protein expression. The results showed as follows: Compared with Sham group, the cerebral tissue edema in IRI group and PBS group was significantly increased (P <0.01), and the expression of AQP4 was increased (P< 0.05). Compared with IRI group and PBS group, the cerebral water content of NSC-Exos group was decreased (P< 0.01, Fig. 3d), and the expression of AQP4 protein was down-regulated (P< 0.05, Fig. 3b, c). There was no significant difference between IRI group and PBS group (P >0.05).