Journal of neurotrauma
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jul 2011
Treatment of TBI with collagen scaffolds and human marrow stromal cells increases the expression of tissue plasminogen activator.
This study examines the effects of combination therapy of collagen scaffolds and human marrow stromal cells (hMSCs) on the expression of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in rats. Adult male Wistar rats (n=48) were injured with controlled cortical impact and treated either with scaffolds suffused with hMSCs (3×10(6)) or hMSCs (3×10(6)) alone transplanted into the lesion cavity 1 week after TBI. A control group was treated with saline. ⋯ Triple staining showed that more neurons were tPA-positive in the scaffold+hMSC group compared to the other two groups (p<0.05). Western blot analysis and qRT-PCR showed that scaffold+hMSC and hMSC-alone treatment enhanced the expression of tPA compared to controls (p<0.05), but tPA expression was significantly greater in the scaffold+hMSC group. The induction of tPA by hMSCs after TBI may be one of the mechanisms involved in promoting functional improvement after TBI.