Adipose-derived perivascular stem cells promote sensorimotor recovery after ischemic stroke in rats

Abstract

In this study, we test a novel hypothesis that treatment of stroke with adipose-derived perivascular stem cells (PSCs) promote sensorimotor recovery after stroke in rats. Rat PSCs were isolated from subcutaneous adipose tissue by a FACS Aria cell sorter using antibodies against CD146, CD31, CD34 and CD45. Isolated and propagated PSCs exhibited fibroblast-like morphology and significantly expressed both mesenchymal stem cells and pericyte markers such as CD73, CD90, CD105, CD146, NG2 and PDGFR-β. Adult male Wistar rats were subjected to 2 h of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) followed by femoral vein injection of PSCs (3 × 106 cells) 24 h later. The rats were sacrificed at 28 days after stroke and immunohistochemistry were performed to identify angiogenesis. It was observed that intravenous injection of PSCs significantly promoted sensomotoric recovery in stroke rats compared with PBS-treated controls. Number of blood capillaries was significantly increased along the ischemic boundary zone of the cortex and striatum in MCAo rats treated with PSCs.