Ischemic stroke is the leading cause of disability in the world.
Cell transplantation has emerged in various neurological diseases as a potential therapeutic approach in the postacute
stroke phase. Recently, inducible pluripotent stem (iPS) cells showed potential for multilineage differentiation and provide a resource for stem cell-based
therapies. However, whether iPS
transplantation could improve the function of
stroke-like model is still an open question. The aim of this study is to investigate the
therapeutic effects of subdural
transplantation of iPS mixed with
fibrin glue (iPS-FG) on cerebral ischemic rats induced by
middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). We demonstrated an efficient method to differentiate iPS into astroglial-like and neuron-like cells which display functional electrophysiological properties. In vivo study firstly showed that the direct injection of iPS into damaged areas of rat cortex significantly decreased the
infarct size and improved the motor function in rats with MCAO. Furthermore, we found that the subdural iPS-FG can also effectively reduce the total
infarct volume and greatly improve the behavior of rats with MCAO to perform rotarod and grasping tasks. Importantly, analysis of
cytokine expression in iPS-FG-treated ischemic brains revealed a significant reduction of pro-inflammatory
cytokines and an increase of anti-inflammatory
cytokines. Taken together, these results suggest that iPS cells could improve the motor function, reduce
infarct size, attenuate
inflammation cytokines, and mediate neuroprotection after
ischemic stroke. Subdural iPS-FG could be considered as a more safe approach because this method can avoid iatrogenic injury to brain parenchyma and enhance recovering from stoke-induced impairment.