Fig. 2

Tocilizumab facilitates the restoration of TJs between vascular endothelial cells after SCI. A, B, E and F Representative images of sham, PBS, and Tocilizumab group mice spinal cord are stained for ZO-1 or CLDN5 (green) and CD31 (red) at 14 (A, B) and 28 dpi (E, F). The region of interest (ROI) shows a higher magnification of the left boxed region, which exhibits little colocalization of CD31 and ZO-1 (A,  E) or CLDN5 (B, F) in the injured core in the PBS group, while most CD31 colocalizes with ZO-1 (A, E) or CLDN5 (B, F) in the Tocilizumab group and the sham group. Arrowheads indicate ZO-1⁺ (A, E) or CLDN5⁺ (B, F) blood vessels, arrows indicate ZO-1⁻ (A, E) or CLDN5⁻ (B, F) blood vessels. Asterisks indicate the injured core. Scale bars: low magnification, 100 μm; higher magnification, 20 μm. (C, D, G and H) Quantitative analysis of the percentage of endothelial ZO-1 (C, G) or CLDN5 (D, H) in sham group and in the injured core in the PBS and Tocilizumab groups at 14 (C, D) and 28 dpi (G, H). All images show sagittal sections. Data are presented as the mean ± SEM (n = 5 in each group). ***p < 0.001 and ****p < 0.0001 (Tocilizumab vs. PBS). ^#p < 0.05 (Tocilizumab vs. sham). ^&&&&p < 0.0001 (PBS vs. sham)