UZH Researches Transplanted Stem Cells in Stroke Therapy

(CONNECT) Researchers from the University of Zurich (UZH) and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles have conducted joint studies on the effect of transplanted stem cells in the treatment of strokes. According to a press release, they used human neural stem cells in mice that had been subjected to a permanent stroke.

The stem cells were obtained from induced pluripotent stem cells. These could be produced from human body cells. The team induced a permanent stroke in various mice. These mice were genetically predisposed not to reject human stem cells. The transplantation was performed one week after the ischemic insult. The stem cells were implanted in the regions of the brain where the stroke had occurred. It was shown that not only new nerve cells were formed, but also new blood vessels through regeneration. In addition, the transplant also reversed motor impairments caused by the stroke.

"Our analysis thus goes well beyond the scope of other studies that focused on the immediate effects directly after transplantation," Christian Tackenberg, scientific head of the Neurodegeneration Group at the Institute of Regenerative Medicine at UZH, is quoted as saying in the press release. However, many more studies are still required for clinical applications. The advantage of this is that the stem cells were produced without reagents derived from animals. This facilitates therapeutic approaches for the treatment of people. The results have just been published in "Nature Communications". A second study by the authors showed that stem cell transplantation worked better if it was performed one week after the stroke. ce/ww