Immunodeficiency reduces neural stem/progenitor cell apoptosis and enhances neurogenesis in the cerebral cortex after stroke

Acute inflammation in the poststroke period exacerbates neuronal damage and stimulates reparative mechanisms, including neurogenesis. However, only a small fraction of neural stem/progenitor cells survives. In this report, by using a highly reproducible model of cortical infarction in SCID mice, we examined the effects of immunodeficiency on reduction of brain injury, survival of neural stem/progenitor cells, and functional recovery. Subsequently, the contribution of T lymphocytes to neurogenesis was evaluated in mice depleted for each subset of T lymphocyte. SCID mice revealed the reduced apoptosis and enhanced proliferation of neural stem/progenitor cells induced by cerebral cortex after stroke compared with the immunocompetent wild‐type mice. Removal of T lymphocytes, especially the CD4⁺ T‐cell population, enhanced generation of neural stem/progenitor cells, followed by accelerated functional recovery. In contrast, removal of CD25⁺ T cells, a cell population including regulatory T lymphocytes, impaired functional recovery through, at least in part, suppression of neurogenesis. Our findings demonstrate a key role of T lymphocytes in regulation of poststroke neurogenesis and indicate a potential novel strategy for cell therapy in repair of the central nervous system. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.