• Atsushi Kuge, Sunao Takemura, Yasuaki Kokubo, Shinya Sato, Kaoru Goto, and Takamasa Kayama.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Yamagata University, Yamagata, Japan.
• Neurol. Res. 2009 Nov 1; 31 (9): 969-76.

BackgroundIn the adult mammalian brain, it is considered that neurogenesis persists in limited regions such as the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) and the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the lateral ventricle. On the other hand, neurogenesis in the cortex after cerebral ischemia and its role in post-stroke recovery have not been clarified yet. In this study, we investigated neurogenesis in the cortex and the spatiotemporal profile of neural progenitors in SVZ and DG of rats subjected to transient focal cerebral ischemia.Materials And MethodsMale Sprague-Dawley rats (270-300 g) were subjected to 60 minute middle cerebral artery occlusion. Proliferating cells were labeled by the cumulative administration of BrdU 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 weeks after ischemia induction (at weeks 1-4, 6 and 8). Double labeling was also performed with antibodies against BrdU and NeuN.ResultsBrdU-positive cells proliferated in DG and SVZ of the bilateral hemispheres, and their proliferation peaked at week 3 in SVZ and at week 4 in DG. In the peri-infarct zone of cerebral cortex, BrdU-positive cells co-expressed NeuN from weeks 3 to 8.ConclusionNeurogenesis was observed in the cerebral cortex and proliferation of neural progenitors occurred in SVZ and DG of rats subjected to transient focal cerebral ischemia. Our data might indicate that endogenous dormant neural stem cells residing in the cortex were activated by ischemic insult to induce the proliferation of neural progenitors and differentiation into mature neurons.

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