Hoping for the moon shot to come thru rather that working on the thousands of clinical research projects already hinting at success in recovery. All because stroke is following NO strategy.
http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/pdf/S2211-1247(17)31062-8.pdf
Authors
Fahad A. Somaa, Ting-Yi Wang,
Jonathan C. Niclis, ..., David R. Nisbet,
Lachlan H. Thompson, Clare L. Parish
Correspondencelachlan.thompson@florey.edu.au (L.H.T.),
clare.parish@florey.edu.au (C.L.P.)
SUMMARY
Stem cell transplants offer significant hope for brain repair following ischemic damage. Pre-clinical work
suggests that therapeutic mechanisms may be multi-faceted, incorporating bone-fide circuit reconstruction by transplanted neurons, but also protection/regeneration of host circuitry. Here, we engineered hydrogel scaffolds to form ‘‘bio-bridges’’ within the necrotic lesion cavity, providing physical
and trophic support to transplanted human embryonic stem cell-derived cortical progenitors, as well
as residual host neurons. Scaffolds were fabricated by the self-assembly of peptides for alaminin-derived
epitope (IKVAV), thereby mimicking the brain’s major extracellular protein. Following focal ischemia in rats,
scaffold-supported cell transplants induced progressive motor improvements over 9 months, compared
to cell- or scaffold-only implants. These grafts were larger, exhibited greater neuronal differentiation,
and showed enhanced electrophysiological properties reflective of mature, integrated neurons. Varying
graft timing post-injury enabled us to attribute repair to both neuroprotection and circuit replacement.
These findings highlight strategies to improve the efficiency of stem cell grafts for brain repair.
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