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Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Improved Method for the Preparation of a Human Cell-based, Contact Model of the Blood-Brain Barrier
Published on: November 12, 2013
Activated protein C inhibits tissue plasminogen activator-induced brain hemorrhage
Tong Cheng1, Anthony L Petraglia, Zhang Li
1Frank P. Smith Laboratory for Neuroscience and Neurosurgical Research, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York 14642, USA.
Abstract:
Brain hemorrhage is a serious complication of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) therapy for ischemic stroke. Here we report that activated protein C (APC), a plasma serine protease with systemic anticoagulant, anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic activities, and direct vasculoprotective and neuroprotective activities, blocks tPA-mediated brain hemorrhage after transient brain ischemia and embolic stroke in rodents. We show that APC inhibits a pro-hemorrhagic tPA-induced, NF-kappaB-dependent matrix metalloproteinase-9 pathway in ischemic brain endothelium in vivo and in vitro by acting through protease-activated receptor 1. The present findings suggest that APC may improve thrombolytic therapy for stroke, in part, by reducing tPA-mediated hemorrhage.
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