Figure 5: CAQK binds to injured human brains.

(a) CAQK-conjugated AgNPs (CAQK-NPs) showed higher binding to sections from the corpus callosum and cortex of human brains with TBI than with normal brain or with control NPs. Peptide-conjugated nanoparticles were incubated with formalin-fixed frozen sections from injured and normal brains for ex vivo binding. Sections were counterstained with nuclear fast red. The number of particles in each frame were counted and plotted in the bar diagram. Representative photomicrographs are shown. Scale bar, 50 μm (b) Versican and hapln4 expression in human brains. Immunohistochemical staining on human brains showed elevated expression of versican and hapln4 in injured brain compared to normal brain tissue. Positive staining was quantified and plotted. Scale bar, 50 μm. Mean±s.e.m., (ANOVA analysis; **P<0.01, ***P<0.001, ****P<0.0001).