Effect of neural stem cell transplantation on cognitive functions of mice after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion

Abstract

This study is aimed to determine the effect of transplantation of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) isolated from fetal hippocampus on cognitive functions of experimental animals after short-term global cerebral ischemia. NPCs were isolated from hippocampus of FVB-Cg-Tg(GFPU)5Nagy/J mice, transgenic by the GFP. Ischemic brain injury in FVB “wild” type mice was modeled by bilateral occlusion of the common carotid arteries for 20 min. GFP-positive NPCs were stereotaxically transplanted into the hippocampus of experimental animals in 24 hours after ischemia-reperfusion. Cognitive functions were evaluated using Morris water maze. Results of this study showed that global short-term cerebral ischemia resulted into cognitive impairments in mice. Stereotaxic transplantation of NPCs promoted the cognitive function recovery in experimental animals after ischemic brain injury. Thus, the data indicates that transplantation of NPCs may have a therapeutic effect in treating of ischemic stroke.