Evidence for stroke-induced neurogenesis in the human brain

Kunlin Jin; Xiaomei Wang; Lin Xie; Xiao Ou Mao; Wei Zhu; Yin Wang; Jianfeng Shen; Ying Mao; Surita Banwait; David A. Greenberg

doi:10.1073/pnas.0603512103

New Research In

Edited by Solomon H. Snyder, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, and approved July 10, 2006
↵ ^†K.J. and X.W. contributed equally to this work. (received for review May 9, 2006)

Abstract

Experimental stroke in rodents stimulates neurogenesis and migration of newborn neurons from their sites of origin into ischemic brain regions. We report that in patients with stroke, cells that express markers associated with newborn neurons are present in the ischemic penumbra surrounding cerebral cortical infarcts, where these cells are preferentially localized in the vicinity of blood vessels. These findings suggest that stroke-induced compensatory neurogenesis may occur in the human brain, where it could contribute to postischemic recovery and represent a target for stroke therapy.

Footnotes

^‖To whom correspondence should be addressed at:
Buck Institute for Age Research, 8001 Redwood Boulevard, Novato, CA 94945.
E-mail: dgreenberg{at}buckinstitute.org
Author contributions: K.J. and D.A.G. designed research; K.J., X.W., L.X., X.O.M., W.Z., Y.W., J.S., Y.M., and S.B. performed research; X.W., W.Z., J.S., and Y.M. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; K.J., Y.W., and D.A.G. analyzed data; and D.A.G. wrote the paper.
Conflict of interest statement: No conflicts declared.
This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the PNAS office.
Abbreviations:
Ki-67,
proliferation-related Ki-67 antigen;
MCM2,
S. cereviseae minichromosome maintenance 2 homolog;
PCNA,
proliferating cell nuclear antigen;
DCX,
doublecortin;
TUC-4,
TOAD/Ulip/CRMP family protein 4;
ENCAM,
embryonic nerve cell adhesion molecule.
© 2006 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA