| Objective: To establish the isolation and steady cultivation system of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from human umbilical cord blood and observe the neurological functional recovery after transplanting MSCs, and detect the survival time, migration and neural differentiation of MSCs; to compare the neurological functional recovery between MSCs transplantation vs. injection of gangliosides (GM1). Methods: The mononuclear cells isolated from 100 mL of cord blood of full-term babies were cultured in vitro and labeled with 5-bromodeoxyuridine (Brdu) for 72 h; pregnant rats of 17 days were injected with LPS 0.4 mg/(kg.day) intraperitoneally. After 12 h, the rats were placed in the oxygen-free environment for 2-2.5 h. Four h later, the rats were given LPS once again. Eighty 4-week-old new born cerebral palsy (CP) rats were chosen by behavioral evaluation. The rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: CP group (model of CP), false transplantation group (transplantation of PBS after CP), MSCs transplantation group (transplantation of MSCs after CP), GM1 group (injection of GM1 after CP). At first, 2nd, and 4th week after transplantation, immumofluorescence method was used to check the survival, migration and differentiation of MSCs labeled with Brdu after transplantation of MSCs. Neurological functional recovery was observed according to the evaluation of behaviors at the forth week, and the expression of glial fibriliary acidic protein (GFAP) and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in BrdU-labeled MSCs was detected by immumofluorescence method. Results: In MSCs transplantation group, the length of holding time was longer, while the errors of feet were less than in GW1 group (P<0.05). The transplanted MSCs could survive in the brain and migrate to the surrounding brain tissue. About (0.45±0.68) MSCs expressed GFAP and (0.15±0.68) MSCs expressed NSE. Conclusion: For the transplantation of MSCs in rats, the neurological functional recovery was better than the injection of GM1 (P<0.05). The transplanted MSCs could survive in the brain, migrate to the surrounding brain tissue and differentiate into astrocytes or neurons. |
