High-Dose Neural Stem/Progenitor Cell Transplantation Increases Engraftment and Neuronal Distribution and Promotes Functional Recovery in Rats after Acutely Severe Spinal Cord Injury

Figure 6

High-dose NSPC transplantation significantly alleviated glial scar formation in the injury site at 8 weeks postgrafting. (a–c) Representative horizontal sections stained for GFAP and DAPI from three groups, (a) revealing moderate GFAP-positive astrocytes distribute in the lesion area in the high-dose group. But there are very dense and strong GFAP-positive astrocytes that fill in the lesion area in the low-dose and SCI group (b, c) (the white dotted lines indicated the boundary between the host spinal cord and the lesion area). Scale bar: 500 μm. (A1, B1, and C1) High-magnification views of (a–c) showing GFAP-positive astrocytes in the central of the lesion area. Scale bar: 200 μm. (d) Quantitative analyses of the GFAP-positive area in the lesion area (, animals per group; , ). (e) Quantitative analyses of the percentage of the GFAP-positive area in the total area of the lesion site that is the sum of MAP-2, GFAP, and MBP-positive area at the injury site in each subject for three groups (, animals per group; , ).

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