Effects of Intravenous Administration of Human Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells in 3-Acetylpyridine-Lesioned Rats

Figure 1

HuUCBMCs grafts improve motor coordination and reach the cerebellum and brain stem of 3-AP ataxic rats. Motor performance, as assessed by the rotarod test, shows a progressive impairment in 3-AP-lesioned rats receiving vehicle ((a) white circles) that reaches a plateau between 15 and 24 days after lesion. Motor coordination in 3-AP-lesioned rats that received HuUCBMCs grafts ((a) black circles) is significantly improved at 24 days after lesion. Time of implantation of HuUCBMCs (↓). (b) shows the detection by western blot of HuNu protein in the cerebellum and brain stem of 3-AP-lesioned rats treated with vehicle (white bars), or with HuUCBMCs (black bars). (b1) and (b2) show representative blots for HuNu protein in the cerebellum (b1) and brain stem (b2). Lane 1: 3-AP-lesioned rats treated with vehicle (3-AP + vehicle); lane 2: 3-AP-lesioned rats treated with HuUCBMCs grafts (3-AP + cells). Results represent the mean ± SEM of 4 (b) to 10 (a) individual animals. ^&𝑃≤0.05 versus 3-AP + vehicle rats at 24 days after lesion, ⁺𝑃≤0.05, ⁺⁺𝑃≤0.01 versus 3-AP + vehicle rats at 48 days after lesion.