*2.2. Temporal Changes of VEGF and VEGFR2 Expression in the Hippocampal CA3 Region following Status Epilepticus*

The expression of VEGF and VEGFR2 following KA-induced experimental status epilepticus were examined. Real-time PCR results showed the expression of *vegf* mRNA extracted from the right hippocampal CA3 region was significantly augmented at 3 h, 6 h, and 24 h after administration of KA (Figure 2a). Correspondingly, western blotting analysis also showed a significant increase of VEGF protein levels at 3, 6, and 24 h after experimental status epilepticus that peaked at 6 h (Figure 2b). Additionally, in the parallel experiments, the expression of *vegfr2* mRNA also exhibited a significant increase from 3 to 24 h after KA-induced status epilepticus (Figure 2c). By western blotting analysis, the VEGFR2 protein levels were revealed to be significantly increased in the right hippocampal CA3 tissue 3–24 h after the induction of status epilepticus (Figure 2d).

**Figure 1.** (**a**) Changes of the *pgc-1*α mRNA expression and (**b**) the protein levels of PGC-1α after kainic acid (KA; 0.5 nmol) was microinjected into the hippocampal CA3 subfield. Tissues were harvested from the right subfield CA3 of the hippocampus at 1, 3, 6, or 24 h after administration of KA or phosphate buffered saline (PBS) into the left hippocampal CA3. Values are presented as mean ± SEM of four animals per experimental group. \* *p* < 0.05 versus the control group in the Scheffé multiple-range test.

**Figure 2.** Upregulated changes of the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (*vegf*) (**a**) and VEGF receptor 2 (*vegfr2*) (**c**) mRNA levels, and VEGF (**b**) and VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2) protein levels (**d**) after the administration of KA (0.5 nmol) into the hippocampal CA3 region. Samples were collected from the right hippocampal CA3 subfield at 1, 3, 6, or 24 h after the administration of KA or PBS into the left hippocampal CA3 subfield. Values are presented as mean ± SEM of quadruplicate analyses from four animals per experimental group. \* *p* < 0.05 versus the control group in the Scheffé multiple-range test.
