Transcriptome analysis of the effects of melanocortin analogues in ipsilateral striatum of rat brain at 24h after tMCAO

White 2-month-old male rats of the Wistar line (weight, 200-250 g) were used. The model of transient cerebral focal ischemia (tMCAO) was used. The animals were divided into the "sham-operation after saline administration" (SO24), "tMCAO after saline administration" (IR24), "tMCAO after MEHFPGP (ACTH(4-7)PGP, Semax) administration" (IS24), and "tMCAO after HFRWPGP (ACTH(6-9)PGP) administration" (IA24) groups. Each group contained 3 animals. tMCAO in experimental rats was initiated by endovascular occlusion of right middle cerebral artery using monofilament for 90 minutes followed by reperfusion. The anaesthesia was induced by 3% isoflurane and maintained by 1.5-2% isoflurane. The rats were taken out of anaesthesia for 88 min after monofilament insertion and re-anaesthetized for 5 min to remove monofilament. The sham-operated rats were subjected to a similar surgical procedure under anaesthesia (neck incision and separation of the bifurcation), but without tMCAO. The rats in these respective groups were injected intraperitoneally three times with either peptide (100 microg/kg), or saline at 90 min, as well as 2.5 and 6.5 hours after tMCAO. At 24 h after sham/tMCAO operation, rats were decapitated, the damaged striatum was dissected and total RNA was isolated. The mRNA fraction was subjected to High-throughput RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq). Sequencing was done using an Illumina HiSeq 1500 instrument. At least 10 million reads (1/50 nt) were generated.