title: Wnt signaling enhances neurogenesis and improves neurological function after focal ischemic injury.
abstract: Stroke potently stimulates cell proliferation in the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricles with subsequent neuroblast migration to the injured striatum and cortex. However, most of the cells do not survive and mature. Extracellular Wnt proteins promote adult neurogenesis in the neurogenic niches. The aim of the study was to examine the efficacy of Wnt signaling on neurogenesis and functional outcome after focal ischemic injury. Lentivirus expressing Wnt3a-HA (LV-Wnt3a-HA) or GFP (LV-GFP) was injected into the striatum or subventricular zone of mice. Five days later, focal ischemic injury was induced by injection of the vasoconstrictor endothelin-1 into the striatum of the same hemisphere. Treatment with LV-Wnt3a-HA into the striatum significantly enhanced functional recovery after ischemic injury and increased the number of BrdU-positive cells that differentiated into mature neurons in the ischemic striatum by day 28. Treatment with LV-Wnt3a-HA into the subventricular zone significantly enhanced functional recovery from the second day after injury and increased the number of immature neurons in the striatum and subventricular zone. This was accompanied by reduced dissemination of the neuronal injury. Our data indicate that Wnt signaling appears to contribute to functional recovery after ischemic injury by increasing neurogenesis or neuronal survival in the striatum.
authors: Laboratory of Neuroscience, Felsenstein Medical Research Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel. shruster@gmail.com
authors: Adi
authors: A
authors: Shruster
authors: Tali
authors: T
authors: Ben-Zur
authors: Eldad
authors: E
authors: Melamed
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Offen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002470:Cell Survival; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D016086:Lentivirus / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D017072:Neostriatum / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D020127:Recovery of Function; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D060449:Wnt Signaling Pathway; D060509:Wnt3A Protein / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D060509:Wnt3A Protein