Activated caspase-3 immunohistochemistry shows that Thy1-p45 mice have reduced cell death following stab wound injury compared to their WT littermates.

One (A, B) or 3 days (C, D) after stab wound injuries on the right side of T13 spinal cord, Thy1-p45 mice (B, D) had fewer activated caspase-3+ cells compared to their WT littermates (A, C) on the injured side of the spinal cord. Serving as an internal control, there were almost no activated caspase-3+ cells on the contralateral uninjured side of the spinal cord in every section. The activated caspase-3+ cells co-localized with Hoechest 33342 nuclei staining and showed the typical features of cell death (DNA condensation) in the magnified view of injured spinal cord from both Thy1-p45 mice and their WT littermates (E, F). Scale bars: 200 µm (A–D), 20 µm (E, F).