• Dunyue Lu, Asim Mahmood, Changsheng Qu, Xin Hong, David Kaplan, and Michael Chopp.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan 48202, USA.
• Neurosurgery. 2007 Sep 1;61(3):596-602; discussion 602-3.

ObjectiveTraumatic brain injury (TBI) causes extensive loss of cerebral parenchyma; however, no strategy for reconstruction has been clinically effective. Our group and others have used human marrow stromal cells (hMSCs) to treat rats subjected to TBI and found no significant changes in the lesion volume, although functional outcome was improved significantly. To identify new ways of delivering hMSCs into the injured brain and to maximize the therapeutic benefits of hMSC treatment, we investigated the use of collagen scaffolds implanted with hMSCs as a cell delivery system for treatment of TBI.MethodsCollagen scaffolds populated with 3 x 10(6) hMSCs were transplanted into the lesion cavity of the injured cortex 4 days after TBI, and the rats were euthanized 35 days after TBI. We measured sensorimotor function and spatial learning using an array of function tests, and the brain tissue was processed for histopathology analysis.ConclusionThe data show that scaffolds populated by hMSCs improve spatial learning and sensorimotor function, reduce the lesion volume, and foster the migration of hMSCs into the lesion boundary zone after TBI in rats. hMSC-populated scaffolds may be a new way to reconstruct the injured brain and improve neurological function after TBI.

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