Loss of vascular early response gene reduces edema formation after experimental stroke

Vascular Early Response Gene (Verge) is an immediate early gene (IEG) that is up-regulated in endothelial cells in response to a number of stressors, including ischemic stroke. Endothelial cell lines that stably express Verge show enhanced permeability. Increased Verge expression has also been associated with blood brain barrier breakdown. In this study we investigated the role of Verge in ischemic injury induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in both Verge knockout (KO) and wild type (WT) mice. Verge KO mice had significantly less cerebral edema formation after MCAO compared to WT mice. However, stroke outcome (infarct size and neurological deficit scores) evaluated at either 24 or 72 hours after stroke showed no differences between the two genotypes. Verge deletion leads to decreased edema formation after ischemia; however acute stroke outcomes were unchanged.