title: Transplantation of vascular endothelial growth factor-modified neural stem/progenitor cells promotes the recovery of neurological function following hypoxic-ischemic brain damage.
abstract: Neural stem/progenitor cell (NSC) transplantation has been shown to effectively improve neurological function in rats with hypoxic-ischemic brain damage. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a signaling protein that stimulates angiogenesis and improves neural regeneration. We hypothesized that transplantation of VEGF-transfected NSCs would alleviate hypoxic-ischemic brain damage in neonatal rats. We produced and transfected a recombinant lentiviral vector containing the VEGF165gene into cultured NSCs. The transfected NSCs were transplanted into the left sensorimotor cortex of rats 3 days after hypoxic-ischemic brain damage. Compared with the NSCs group, VEGF mRNA and protein expression levels were increased in the transgene NSCs group, and learning and memory abilities were significantly improved at 30 days. Furthermore, histopathological changes were alleviated in these animals. Our findings indicate that transplantation of VEGF-transfected NSCs may facilitate the recovery of neurological function, and that its therapeutic effectiveness is better than that of unmodified NSCs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiang-Rong
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9864-8646
authors.initials: XR
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
authors.forename: Shan-Shan
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-He
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
authors.forename: Jie-Lu
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
authors.forename: Yu-Jia
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Yang
keywords: animal model; cerebral cortex; hypoxic-ischemic brain damage; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; neural stem/progenitor cells; neuroprotection; transfection; transplantation; vascular endothelial growth factor