Restorative neurology and neuroscience
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Restor. Neurol. Neurosci. · Jan 2013
The impact of enriched environment and transplantation of murine cortical embryonic stem cells on recovery from controlled cortical contusion injury.
The effectiveness of embryonic stem cell (eSC) therapy has been explored in many models of neurological disease and several research groups have shown that eSC treatment leads to improved outcomes in pre-clinical models of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Though functional recovery occurs, few surviving eSCs appear to develop neuronal characteristics; instead the majority of the surviving eSC express glial phenotypes. Additionally, researchers have shown that enriching the post-surgical environment of the subject promotes functional recovery following TBI. The purpose of the current project was to determine if post-surgical environmental enrichment (EE) impacts the survival, migration, and integration of eSCs in a rodent model of TBI and if the presence of these cells lead to improved outcomes. ⋯ Combing therapeutic strategies with enriching the post-injury environment is likely to be an important addition to determining the efficacy of pre-clinical therapies.