Integration of Grafted Neural Progenitor Cells in a Host Hippocampal Circuitry after Ischemic Injury

The induction of development of neurons and glial cells from neural progenitor cells (NPCs) is at present considered a promising strategy for recoverу after ischemic insult-evoked damage to the brain. To estimate whether grafted NPCs can develop morphological properties of the mature neurons and become functionally integrated within a host hippocampal circuitry, immunohistochemical approaches at the light and electron microscopy levels have been used. Ischemic insult in FVB-strain mice was evoked by 20-min-long occlusion of both carotid arteries. One day after occlusion, NPCs from GFP-transgenic fetuses were suboccipitally transplanted into the ischemic brain. We found that 44.7 ± 3.8% (mean ± s.e.m) of the grafted GFP-positive cells differentiated 3 months after transplantation into cells demonstrating morphological features of hippocampal pyramidal neurons. Moreover, grafted cells demonstrated manifestations of rather intense formation of the synapses between host and donor neural cells. Thus, our observations show that the NPC-based transplantation approach may be promising in the treatmen t of ischemic insult.