title: Are there fetal stem cells in the maternal brain?
abstract: Fetal cells can enter maternal blood during pregnancy but whether they can also cross the blood-brain barrier to enter the maternal brain remains poorly understood. Previous results suggest that fetal cells are summoned to repair damage to the mother's brain. If this is confirmed, it would open up new and safer avenues of treatment for brain damage caused by strokes and neural diseases. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether a baby's stem cells can enter the maternal brain during pregnancy. Deceased patients who had at least one male offspring and no history of abortion and blood transfusion were included in this study. DNA was extracted from brain tissue samples of deceased women using standard phenol-chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation methods. Genomic DNA was screened by quantitative fluorescent-polymerase chain reaction amplification together with short tandem repeat markers specific to the Y chromosome, and 13, 18, 21 and X. Any foreign DNA residues that could be used to interpret the presence of fetal stem cells in the maternal brain were monitored. Results indicated that fetal stem cells can not cross the blood-brain barrier to enter the maternal brain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Çukurova, Adana, Turkey.
authors.forename: Osman
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Demirhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Çukurova, Adana, Turkey.
authors.forename: Necmi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cekin
authors.affiliation: Vocational School of Health Services, Adiyaman University, Adiyaman, Turkey.
authors.forename: Deniz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Taştemir
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Çukurova, Adana, Turkey.
authors.forename: Erdal
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tunç
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ali İrfan
authors.initials: Aİ
authors.lastname: Güzel
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Çukurova, Adana, Turkey.
authors.forename: Demet
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Meral
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric and Neurologic Diesease Hospital, Adana, Turkey.
authors.forename: Bülent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Demirbek
keywords: DNA; Y chromosome; brain tissue; fetal stem cells; grants-supported paper; hippocampus; neural disease; neural regeneration; neurogenesis; neuroregeneration; photographs-containing paper; pregnancy; quantitative fluorescent-PCR; stem cells; subventricular zone