ABSTRACT
AIM: To investigate the survival, migration and differentiation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) in the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MACO) model and to observe the influence on motor function in the animal model. METHODS: hMSC with Hoeschst 33342 were injected into the animal model of MACO after Shenqiye induced for half an hour and their survival, migration, differentiation and the behavior changes in MACO rats were examined. RESULTS: hMSC had good homogeneousness and immunological reaction after implantation. The results showed that hMSC survived in rat brain for a long time over six weeks. As time going, hMSC were found in much more areas in the rat brain. Immunofluorescence staining suggested that implanted hMSC expressed human neuron specific enolase, neurofilament, and glial fibrillary acid protein. At the same time, improvements in abnormal behavior of MACO rats were observed. CONCLUSION: hMSC differentiate into neurons in the brain of rats, which means that hMSC is an ideal seed cells for the therapy of cerebral infarction.