Expression data from stroke patients brain samples

Stroke is still a major cause of death and disability worldwide. A better comprehension of stroke pathophysiology is fundamental to reduce its dramatic outcome. Our aim was to identify and verify gene expression changes that occur in the human brain after ischemia. Six ischemic stroke patients who died during hospitalization in the Vall d’Hebron Hospital (Barcelona, Spain) were included. Tissue collection was done under the supervision of an experienced neuropathologist. Brain pieces from the infarct core (IC) and the healthy contralateral (CL) areas were gathered within the first hours after death, snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80ºC. Total RNA was isolated from frozen brain samples using the Fatty Tissue RNA Purification kit (Norgen Biotek Corp., Canada), following manufacturer’s instructions. DNase treatment was performed in solution with the DNA-free DNA removal kit (Ambion, ThermoFisher). All RNAs were kept at -80ºC. The integrity of the isolated RNA was determined using the Bioanalyzer 2100 platform (Agilent, UK), with an average integrity number of 6.4 ± 1.5.