The spontaneous expression of neural markers, already demonstrated in bone marrow (BM) mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), has been considered as evidence of the MSCs' predisposition to differentiate toward neural lineages, supporting their use in stem cell-based therapy for neural repair. In this study we have evaluated, by immunocytochemistry, immunoblotting, and flow cytometry experiments, the ex...

Major depression is often associated with elevated glucocorticoid levels. High levels of glucocorticoids reduce neurogenesis in the adult rat hippocampus. Electroconvulsive seizures (ECS) can enhance neurogenesis, and we investigated the effects of ECS in rats where glucocorticoid levels were elevated in order to mimic conditions seen in depression. Rats given injections of corticosterone or ve...

It is postulated that stress differentially affects interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) during ontogenetic life. This study examined the influence of chronic exposure to forced swim (FS) stress or high-light open-field (HL-OF) stress on interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta). The total level of IL-1beta protein was assessed by Western blot analysis of hippocampal extracts. Double immunofluorescence staining was...

BACKGROUND Stereology is the study of estimating geometric quantities. When successfully applied, the combination of immunohistochemistry (IHC) and stereology eliminates intra- and interobserver variability for cell type identification. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We propose a method to validate existing antibody based cell type markers for stereological application. Comparison was made on...

It has been proposed that new neurons in the adult brain might preferentially develop in the immediate vicinity of existing vasculature, an area that has been referred to as a "vascular niche". The most common method for identifying neurons that arise as the result of mitotic activity is to label them with the thymidine analogue bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), and a nuclear marker for mature neurons ...

Several studies have demonstrated that basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) can induce neural differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. In this study, we investigated the neural differentiation of muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs) following treatment with bFGF and ethosuximide, a small molecule used as an anticonvulsant in humans. Stem cells isolated from rat skeletal muscle (rMDSCs) were pre...

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of neuronal density on viscoelastic parameters of living brain tissue after ischemic infarction in the mouse using MR elastography (MRE). Transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in the left hemisphere was induced in 20 mice. In vivo 7-T MRE at a vibration frequency of 900 Hz was performed on days 3, 7, 14 and 28 (n = 5 per group) ...

BACKGROUND Although brain cooling has been reported to be effective in improving the outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in rats, the mechanisms of brain cooling-induced neuroprotective actions remain unclear. This study was to test whether angiogenesis and neurogenesis attenuating TBI could be brain cooling stimulated. METHODS Anesthetized rats, immediately after the onset of TBI, wer...

The success of transplants of neural tissue into the adult dentate gyrus in generating mature neurons is highly variable. Here we address the roles of the origin of the tissue and its pre-implantation preparation, and show that both are critical. We transplanted neonatal cultured or primary rat cells from either the ventral subventricular zone (vSVZ) or the dentate gyrus (DG) into the adult rat...