Two-vessel Occlusion Mouse Model of Cerebral Ischemia-reperfusion

Summary

A mouse model of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion is established to investigate the pathophysiology of stroke. We distally ligate the right middle cerebral artery and right common carotid artery and restore blood flow after 10 or 40 min of ischemia.

Abstract

In this study, a middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion mouse model is employed to study cerebral ischemia-reperfusion. A reproducible and reliable mouse model is useful for investigating the pathophysiology of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion and determining potential therapeutic strategies for patients with stroke. Variations in the anatomy of the circle of Willis of C57BL/6 mice affects their infarct volume after cerebral-ischemia-induced injury. Studies have indicated that distal MCA occlusion (MCAO) can overcome this problem and result in a stable infarct size. In this study, we establish a two-vessel occlusion mouse model of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion through the interruption of the blood flow to the right MCA. We distally ligate the right MCA and right common carotid artery (CCA) and restore blood flow after a certain period of ischemia. This ischemia-reperfusion injury induces an infarct of stable size and a behavioral deficit. Peripheral immune cells infiltrate the ischemic brain within the 24 h infiltration period. Additionally, the neuronal loss in the cortical area is less for a longer reperfusion duration. Therefore, this two-vessel occlusion model is suitable for investigating the immune response and neuronal recovery during the reperfusion period after cerebral ischemia.

Introduction

The cerebral ischemia-reperfusion mouse model is one of the most widely used experimental approaches for investigating the pathophysiology of ischemia-induced brain injury¹. Because cerebral ischemia-reperfusion activates the peripheral immune system, peripheral immune cells infiltrate into the ischemic brain and cause neuronal damage². Thus, a reliable and reproducible mouse model that mimics cerebral ischemia-reperfusion is required to understand the pathophysiology of stroke.

C57BL/6J (B6) mice are the most commonly used strain in stroke experiments because they can easily be genetically ma....

Protocol

The institutional animal care and use committees of Academia Sinica and Taipei Medical University approved this protocol for the use of experimental animals.

1. MCAO/reperfusion model

1. Provide the mice with free access to water and chow until the surgery.
2. Autoclave the surgical tools and sanitize the surgery table and equipment using 70% ethanol. Wear a surgical mask and sterile gloves. Use a dry bead sterilizer to resterilize the surgical tools if multiple mouse surgeries will be conducted in one experiment.
3. Anesthetize an 8- to 12-week-old mouse (mass: 25–30 g) by using 0.8% chloral hydrate, via an int....

Discussion

The MCAO/reperfusion mouse model is an animal model commonly employed to mimic transient ischemia in humans. This animal model can be applied to transgenic and knockout mice strains to investigate the pathophysiology of stroke. Several steps in the protocol are especially critical. (1) The microdrill must be carefully used when creating a hole in the skull, with inappropriate action easily causing bleeding from the MCA. (2) The MCA should not be damaged, and bleeding must be avoided before and after the ligation procedur.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Bone rongeur	Diener		Friedman
Buprenorphine	Sigma	B-044
Cefazolin	Sigma	1097603
Chloral hydrate	Sigma	C8383
Dissection microscope	Nikon	SMZ-745
Electric clippers	Petpro
10% formalin	Sigma	F5304
Germinator dry bead sterilizer	Braintree Scientific
Iris Forceps	Karl Klappenecker		10 cm
Iris Scissors	Diener		9 cm
Iris Scissors STR	Karl Klappenecker		11 cm
Microdrill	Stoelting	FOREEDOM K.1070
Micro-scissors-Vannas	HEISS	H-4240	blade 7mm, 8 cm
Mouse brain matrix	World Precision Instruments
Non-invasive blood pressure system	Muromachi	MK-2000ST
Operating Scissors STR	Karl Klappenecker		14 cm
Physiological Monitoring System	Harvard Apparatus
Razor blades	Ever-Ready
Stoelting Rodent Warmers	Stoelting	53810	Heating pad
Suture clip	Stoelting
Tweezers	IDEALTEK		No.3
Vetbond	3M	15672	Surgical glue
10-0 suture	UNIK	NT0410
2,3,5-Triphenyltetrazolium chloride	Sigma	T8877