Holes in brain tissue caused by stroke may be fixable using a ‘scaffold’ for stem cells, say researchers from the UK.

Previous attempts to seed such holes in rat brains with stem cells found that the stem cells tended to migrate into surrounding healthy tissue, rather than plugging the gap. Now Mike Modo, of King’s College London, and colleagues have found that a scaffold of biodegradable polylactic-co-glycolic acid polymer laced with stem cells can plug holes in just seven days.

“We would expect to see a much better improvement in the outcome after a stroke if we can fully replace the lost brain tissue, and that is what we have been able to do with our technique,” says Modo (press release). “This works really well because the stem cell-loaded PLGA particles can be injected through a very fine needle and then adopt the precise shape of the cavity. In this process the cells fill the cavity and can make connections with other cells, which helps to establish the tissue.”

Their work is due to be published in Biomaterials. This image shows the brain before and after the stem cells were introduced:

Anthony Hollander, a stem cell expert at the University of Bristol, told the Daily Mail, “It is too early to say if it will be clinically effective in patients but the more we explore these possibilities the more likely it is that we will develop successful therapies.”

More

Stem cells could help treat strokes – PA

Stem-Cell Repair Kit for Stroke – Technology Review

Image: modified from figure in Bible E et al., The support of neural stem cells transplanted into stroke-induced brain cavities by PGLA particles, Biomaterials (2009), doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2009.02.012.