Skin-Derived Precursor Cells Promote Angiogenesis and Stimulate Proliferation of Endogenous Neural Stem Cells after Cerebral Infarction

Figure 2

Transplantation of SKPs ameliorates the behavioral impairments and reduces infarct volume in stroke model of rats. (a) Experimental study design. MCAO: middle cerebral artery occlusion; BrdU: bromodeoxyuridine. (b) Representation of the lateral ventricle wall that includes the stem cells injection site, neural progenitor cells (NPCs), the lateral ventricle (LV), the subventricular zone (SVZ), the ischemic boundary zone (IBZ), and the ischemic zone (IZ). ((c)(I), (c)(II)) Representative pictures of HE from animals treated with PBS or SKPs after MCAO. Scale bar, 1 mm. ((c)(III), (c)(IV)) Higher magnification showed that SKPs increased the number of cells with normal neuronal morphology and decreased the number of shrunken and misshapen cells in cresyl violet–stained sections. Scale bar, 10 μm. (d) Infarct size was measured on HE brain sections. Relative infarct size of PBS or SKPs-treated animals is presented as the mean ± S.D. The percentage of lesion tissue in the two groups (SKPs, Saline) at 14 days after occlusion. Two-way ANOVA with repeated measurements followed by one-way ANOVA and post hoc multiple comparison tests using Fisher’s PLSD. (e) Behavioral performance in the neurological score (NSS) tests of PBS or SKPs injected animals from 1 to 14 days after ischemia. Statistically significant differences between the SKPs group with PBS group were determined by ANOVA, .

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