Fig. 7

Inflammation levels in brain tissues. a Schematic illustration of catalytic activity on oxidative stress and inflammatory responses of the clusters. Expression levels of IL-1β, IL-6 (b), and TNF-α (c) in the brain tissues on day 30 post TBI with or without clusters (n =3 per group) were analyzed using western blotting. The Au₂₄Cd₁ showed superiority on downregulating the IL-1β and IL-6, while the Au₂₄Cu₁ had better effect toward TNF-α. d–f ELISA analysis of inflammatory factors on days 7 and 14 post TBI with or without treatment of clusters (n = 3 per group) further confirmed the abilities of the Au₂₄Cu₁ and Au₂₄Cd₁ on regulating inflammatory factors. All the samples were derived from the same experiment and blots were processed in parallel. Data are presented as mean ± SEM and compared with the control groups. g Quantitative analysis of the positive cell numbers in injured cortex with or without nanocluster treatment (n=3 per group). Analyzed by one-way ANOVA with Tukey test and compared with the Con groups. h The immunohistochemical assay illustrated the conspicuous effect of Au₂₄Cd₁ and Au₂₄Cu₁ against IL-6. i The pathological slices showed that the TBI group exhibiting apoptotic and swollen nerve cells and infiltration of inflammatory cells, while the groups treated with clusters especially the Au₂₄Cd₁ and Au₂₄Cu₁ recovered to almost normal. Data are presented as mean ± SEM and compared with the Con groups, analyzed by one-way ANOVA with Tukey test (adjusted p values are shown, *p< 0.05, **p< 0.005, ***p< 0.001)