Enhancing tyrosine hydroxylase expression and survival of fetal ventral mesencephalon neurons with rat or porcine Sertoli cells in vitro.

Sertoli cells (SCs) are testis-derived cells that secrete trophic factors important for the development of germ cells. Both porcine and rat SCs have been used as graft facilitators - neonatal porcine SCs to support islets in diabetes and 15-day-old rat SCs to enhance dopaminergic neuron transplants in Parkinson's disease models. However, there has never been a study examining the optimal SCs preparation to enhance tyrosine hydroxylase expression in the ventral mesencephalon (VM) neuron.

Mobilized peripheral blood cells administered intravenously produce functional recovery in stroke.

Filgratism (granulocyte colony stimulating factor, G-CSF)-mobilized peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPCs) have replaced bone marrow (BM) as a preferred source of autologous stem cells, in light of the faster hematologic recovery and lesser supportive care requirement exhibited by PBPC transplants. Other hematopoietic stem cells, like the human umbilical cord blood-derived stem cells (hUCBs), and nonhematopoietic stem cells have been shown to improve motor function in rodent models of injury and degenerative disease. In the present study we transplanted either G-CSF-mobilized PBPCs or hUCBs in rats 24 h after permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), and assessed their behavioral abnormalities in spontaneous activity and spontaneous motor asymmetry.