干细胞的研究进展

在美国《Ｓｃｉｅｎｃｅ》杂志评选出的１９９９年度１０大科学进展中，干细胞（ｓｔｅｍ ｃｅｌｌ， ＳＣ）的研究工作格外令人瞩目。这不仅因为在过去短短的一年里，科学家们在干细胞的功能研究方面发表了１０余篇具有里程碑意义的论文，更重要的是，这些突破性进展使得生物学家和医学家们更进一步地认识到：ＳＣ作为一类既有自我更新能力、又有多分化潜能的细胞，具有非常重要的理论研究意义和临床应用价值［１］。这些成果一方面揭示了许多有关细胞生长和发育的基础理论难题；另一方面，可望将其用于创伤修复、神经再生和抗衰老等临床医…     

干细胞移植治疗肝脏疾病的研究进展

背景：干细胞移植治疗肝病是近年来众多学者研究的热点,干细胞移植的基本理论和临床应用研究都取得了很大的进展。 目的：对干细胞移植的理论依据、干细胞来源、移植方式、实验与临床研究、存在问题及前景进行简要综述。 方法：应用计算机检索中国学术期刊全文数据库(CNKI)和Pubmed数据库中2001-01/2011-11关于干细胞移植治疗肝病的文章,检索主题词“干细胞,移植,肝脏疾病,肝损伤”或“stem cell,transplantation,hepatic disease, hepatic injury”。初检索到192篇文献,据纳入标准保留31篇进行分析、综述。 结果与结论：干细胞来源充足,容易获取,可以体外增殖培养,干细胞移植操作简单,安全性高,尤其自体干细胞移植可完全避免移植排斥反应。但自体干细胞移植肝脏疾病的安全性和有效性尚无公识,需更长期的观察。     

干细胞移植治疗系统性硬化的研究进展

系统性硬化(systemic sclerosis,SSc)的治疗一直是临床上的难题,现有的治疗手段难以满足患者需求。造血干细胞移植(hematopoietic stem cell transplantation,HSCT)在临床上的发展已相对成熟,近年来其在SSc上的临床试验取得了突破进展,但移植相关并发症问题一直有待...     

神经干细胞移植治疗老年痴呆

BACKGROUND:Neural stem cell transplantation has been used to treat a series of brain injury diseases, such as cerebral palsy, but its effect on Alzheimer’s disease is rarely reported. OBJECTIVE:To observe the effect of neural stem cell transplantation on the behavior and immune regulating system of Alzheimer’s disease rats.  METHODS:Thirty-five Sprague-Dawley rats were enrolled to make a postcerebral incision and given hippocampal injection of amanita phalloides acid to establish rat models of Alzheimer’s disease. Another 10 rats were only given hippocampal injection of normal saline after preparation of postcerebral skin incision as sham operation group. Then 32 successful rat models were randomly divided into two groups (n=16 per group): rats in experimental group were administrated hippocamal injection of 5×109/L allogeneic neural stem cell suspension; those in model group were given no injection. Five-day Morris water maze test was conducted at 4 weeks after transplantation. At 1 week after Morris water maze test, levels of interleukin-1 and interleukin-10 in the cerebral homogenate were detected, as well as pathological changes of brain tissues were observed in the three groups. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the model group, the abilities of cognition and memory were significantly higher in the sham operation group (P < 0.01), and the abilities of spatial learning and memory were significantly higher in the experimental group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Levels of interleukin-1 and interleukin-10 in the model group were significantly higher than those in the sham operation group (P < 0.01) but significantly lower than those in the experimental group (P < 0.01). Besides, the number of neurons in the model group was obviously less than that in the experimental and sham operation group. These results indicate that neural stem cell transplantation supplements and protects neurons against Alzheimer's disease in rats, thereby significantly improving the learning and memory ability.     

同基因与异基因胚胎肝干细胞移植治疗小鼠肝硬化

背景：胚胎肝干细胞移植免疫相关研究较少,同基因与异基因胚胎肝干细胞移植对小鼠肝硬化的治疗作用,目前尚不清楚。 目的：观察同种同基因与同种异基因胚胎肝干细胞移植对小鼠肝硬化的治疗作用,以及治疗过程中免疫排斥反应发生情况。 方法：采用Ⅳ型胶原酶消化法分离纯化BALB/c与C57BL/6胚胎肝干细胞。104只健康BALB/c小鼠随机分为4 组：正常对照组不予任何处理;肝硬化组、同种同基因移植组、同种异基因移植组腹腔注射四氯化碳石蜡油溶液复制肝硬化模型,16周后分别经其尾静脉注射生理盐水,等量同种同基因胚胎肝干细胞和同种异基因胚胎肝干细胞。在移植4周后比较各组受体小鼠存活情况、肝功能恢复情况、肝纤维化程度、免疫细胞(CD4⁺T、CD8⁺T、NK、NKT)数目及比值、肝脏病理学变化。 结果与结论：同种同基因移植组和同种异基因移植组生存率均为100%,与肝硬化组小鼠存活率67%相比差异有显著性意义(P < 0.05);各组肝功能和肝纤维化指标差异无显著性意义(P > 0.05)。各组免疫学指标比较差异无显著性意义(P > 0.05)。肝脏组织病理学显示肝组织修复：同种异基因移植组>同种同基因移植组>肝硬化组。因此,经尾静脉移植胚胎肝干细胞能提高肝硬化小鼠的生存率、减轻肝细胞坏死程度;同种同基因与同种异基因胚胎肝干细胞移植未发现免疫排斥,对小鼠肝硬化有一定的治疗作用。     

自体骨髓干细胞移植治疗肝硬化的疗效观察

治疗终末期肝病,原位肝移植是最理想的手段,然而供体短缺、手术损伤大、术后的免疫排斥反应以及费用高昂等问题限制了肝移植技术的发展和临床应用。自体骨髓干细胞移植操作简便、有效、侵入性小且并发症少,具有重要的临床意义。我科2009年9月至2011年1月共收治严重肝硬化失代偿期患者8例,经自体骨髓干细胞移植,治疗效果良好     

干细胞移植治疗心肌坏死的基础与临床研究

干细胞治疗心肌坏死是一种新的很有前景的治疗手段,但其机制尚不十分清楚。我国目前临床研究发现干细胞移植可以明显改善急性心肌梗死及梗死后心衰心脏功能,但由于关于干细胞移植的安全性还没有定论,因此还需慎重对待。     

糖原合成酶激酶3β过表达心肌干细胞移植治疗心肌梗死

BACKGROUND:The mechanism and effect of glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β) in the differentiation of cardiac stem cells into cardiomyocytes are still unclear, although GSK-3β is closely related to the life activities of cells. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the changes of GSK-3β expression in the treatment of myocardial infarction in rats undergoing cardiac stem cell transplantation. METHODS:The isolation and culture of cardiac stem cells were performed in 10 neonatal rats. Lentivirus overexpressing GSK-3β or LacZ (control) was constructed and transferred into cardiac stem cells. Animal model of myocardial infarction was made in 30 Sprague-Dawley rats. Six weeks after model preparation, rat models were assigned into GSK-3β, LacZ or PBS group. GSK-3β or LacZ overexpressing cardiac stem cell solution or PBS in equal volume was injected into the rat myocardium, respectively. Four weeks after transplantation, the cardiac function and myocardial collagen production in rats were detected and compared. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the other two groups, the left ventricular ejection fraction was significantly higher, and the left ventricular end diastolic diameter was significantly lower in the GSK-3β group (P < 0.05). Hydroxyproline content, type I collagen mRNA, and type III collagen mRNA expression were significantly lower in the GSK-3β group than the other two groups (P < 0.05). Findings from Masson staining showed that the content of blue-stained collagen was significantly lower in the GSK-3β group than the LacZ group. Moreover, lowest myocardial infarction size was found in the GSK-3β group (P < 0.05). All these experimental findings show that GSK-3 overexpression plays a positive role in promoting the therapeutic effect of cardiac stem cell transplantation.     

静脉移植骨髓间充质干细胞对心肌病心力衰竭心功能的影响

BACKGROUND:Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation can effectively improve decreased cardiac function caused by heart failure, but there is a lack of research about the effect in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation on cardiac function in heart failure induced by cardiomyopathies. OBJECTIVE:To explore the effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation on cardiac function in patients with cardiomyopathies accompanied by heart failure. METHODS:Totally 40 Sprague-Dawley rats were enrolled, and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were isolated from 10 rats, and the remaining rats were equivalently randomized into normal, model and stem cell transplantation groups. Then rats in the model and stem cell transplantation groups were given intraperitoneal injection of hydrochloric acid doxorubicin to prepare cardiomyopathy-induced heart failure models. At 7 days after modeling, the stem cell transplantation group was treated with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells through intravenous transplantation, and the model group was treated with equal amount of DMEM medium. Four weeks later, cardiac function of each rat was detected, and the cell survival and differentiation were observed by immunofluorescence method. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:At 4 weeks after transplantation, compared with normal and stem cell transplantation groups, the left ventricular systolic pressure and maximum rise/fall rate of left ventricular pressure were significantly decreased, but the left ventricular end diastolic pressure significantly increased in the model group (P < 0.05). And there was no significant difference between the normal group and the stem cell transplantation group (P > 0.05). High and dense fluorescence intensity was observed in the host myocardium immediately after transplantation. Subsequently, the fluorescence intensity and density decreased at 4 weeks, but the cell migration could be found, and some cells expressed cardiac troponin T. These results show that intravenous transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells can improve cardiac function in rats with heart failure due to cardiomyopathies. Besides, the transplanted cells can survive in the host, and differentiate into cardiomyocyte-like cells.     

干细胞可塑性的研究进展

近几年来 ,特别是 1 999年在国际权威性杂志上相继发表了几篇有关成所动物组织间叶干细胞或称间叶前体细胞 (ｍｅｓｅｎｃｈｙｍａｌｓｔｅｍｃｅｌｌｓｏｒｐｒｅｃｕｒｓｏｒｃｅｌｌｓ)可塑性 (ｐｌａｓｔｉｃｉｔｙ)的研究报告 ,打破了组织再生仅来源于潜伏在该组织内的干细胞的这一传统观念。这些研究进展被列为 2 0世纪最后一年取得的十大科技成果之一。本文综述了这一新的研究领域的进展。　　一、骨髓细胞转化为其他组织细胞的研究近年的研究证明 ,骨髓内造血干细胞不仅可分化成熟为各类造血细胞和免疫细胞 ,而且骨髓和骨膜来源的间…     

骨髓间充质干细胞移植对老年性痴呆行为学的影响

BACKGROUND:Drug treatment for senile dementia has unsatisfactory outcomes although to a certain extent it can reduce and delay the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Stem cell transplantation is a new attempt for the treatment of senile dementia. OBJECTIVE:To observe the effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation on the behavior of senile dementia rats. METHODS:Rat models of senile dementia were made in 20 Sprague-Dawley rats that were given continuous 60-day gavage of aluminium chloride solution. Then, model rats were randomized into model group treated with normal saline injection and experimental group treated with hippocampal injection of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, respectively. Another 10 rats undergoing normal feeding served as control group. Learning and memory ability of rats were tested by Morris water maze, and superoxide dismutase activity and malondialdehyde content in brain tissues of rats were measured by colorimetric method at 4 weeks after cell transplantation. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the model group, the escape latency was shortened and the cross-platform frequency was increased in the experimental group (P < 0.05), and moreover, significantly elevated superoxide dismutase activity and reduced malondialdehyde content in the brain tissues of rats were found in the experimental group (P < 0.05). These findings indicate that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation contributes to behavior improvement in senile dementia rats by improving the learning and memory ability.     

高压氧对慢性应激抑郁模型大鼠行为及神经干细胞移植的影响

BACKGROUND:Hyperbaric oxygen as a well-recognized therapy for ischemic and hypoxic diseases has to be combined with other treatments. OBJECTIVE:To study the effects of hyperbaric oxygen combined with neural stem cell transplantation via tail vein in chronic stress depression rats. METHODS:Of 60 Sprague-Dawley rats, 15 rats randomly selected were given no treatment as normal group, and the rest 45 ones were used to establish a rat model of depression and randomly divided into three groups: model group (n=15, without giving any treatment), neural stem cell group (n=15, injection of 1 mL neural stem cell suspension (3×10⁶) via the tail vein) and combined group (n=15, hyperbaric oxygen treatment plus neural stem cell injection). Hyperbaric oxygen treatments were carried out four times per day, for 1 week, and all the treatments were given 24 hours after modeling. Rats in each group were subjected to body mass measurement and sugar water consumption test 1 and 2 weeks after treatment, and open field test within 5 minutes after treatment to observe rat behavior changes. The survival and distribution of CM-Dil labeled neural stem cells were observed by fluorescence microscopy. The changes in the size, morphology and number of hippocampus neurons in rat were detected by the method of nylon staining. TUNEL method was used to measure the apoptosis of nerve cells. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the normal group, in the model group, rat’s body weight, sucrose water preference and open field test scores were significantly lower, reduced number of hippocampal neurons with intact structure was found and TUNEL results showed more apoptosis (P < 0.05). Compared with the model group, the body weight, sucrose preference and open field test score increased significantly (P < 0.05), the number of hippocampal neurons was increased, while the number of apoptotic cells was reduced significantly in the neural stem cell and combined groups (P < 0.05). Compared with the neural stem cell group, these indexes were improved more significantly in the combined group (P < 0.05). More CM-Dil positive cells were found in the combined group than the neural stem cell group (P < 0.05). Additionally, the number of hippocampal neurons was higher in the combined group than the neural stem cell group, but lower than the normal group. To conclude, transplantation of neural stem cells combined with hyperbaric oxygen can improve the depression behavior and apoptosis in the hippocampal neurons in chronic stress depression rats.     

神经干细胞移植联用神经节苷脂对脑损伤大鼠神经学功能恢复的影响

背景：研究表明, 神经节苷脂(GM1)通过激活神经营养因子,抑制毒性产物对神经元的损害,并且能够减少兴奋性氨基酸所引起的神经细胞的死亡起到促进神经细胞修复的作用。 目的：神经干细胞移植同时应用GM1,观察两者对脑损伤大鼠恢复的影响。 方法：取健康Wistar大鼠制成重型液压颅脑损伤模型,随机分成3组：损伤组(培养液移植组),神经干细胞移植组,神经干细胞+GM1组。脑损伤后4 d用RT-PCR、Western Blot检测脑组织中AQP4基因表达和蛋白合成的变化,并于脑损伤后24 h,3 d及伤后1,2,3,4 周行动物神经学缺损评分,在脑损伤后21~28 d进行Morris水迷宫试验。4周后处死大鼠行免疫组化、苏木精-伊红染色组织学观察。 结果及结论：脑损伤后4 d脑损伤周围组织AQP4及其mRNA的表达损伤组高于神经干细胞移植组,神经干细胞移植组高于神经干细胞+ GM1组(P < 0.05);移植后1,2,3,4 周,大鼠神经学缺损评分及水迷宫测试结果显示,神经干细胞移植可明显改善重型颅脑损伤后大鼠的神经功能,联合应用GM1有协同效果。移植4周后苏木精-伊红染色神经干细胞+ GM1组出现典型的神经细胞样形态学改变且软化灶消失。免疫组化染色结果显示大鼠损伤灶脑组织中的BrdU阳性细胞数神经干细胞+GM1组高于NSCs移植组和损伤组。提示神经干细胞移植可明显改善重型颅脑损伤后大鼠的神经学功能,联合应用GM1有协同效果。     

移植不同剂量脐带间充质干细胞提高老年痴呆大鼠学习记忆能力的比较

BACKGROUND:To delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, transplantation of viable and well-differentiated stem cells is expected to repair neural tissue, which has been an issue of concern. OBJECTIVE:To explore the effects of different doses of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) on learning and memory ability of Alzheimer’s disease rats. METHODS:Fifty Sprague-Dawley rats, 7 months of age, were randomized into normal, model, high-, middle- and low-dose hUCMSCs groups (n=10 per group). Rats in model and UCMSCs groups were used to make Alzheimer’s disease animals through intraperitoneal injection of 150 mg/kg D-galactose for 90 days, and rats in the normal group were given intraperitoneal injection of normal saline for 90 days. In the three hUCMSCs group, passage 3 hUCMSCs at doses of 1×10⁵/0.2 mL/20 g, 5×10⁵/0.2 mL/20 g, and 1×10⁶/0.2 mL/20 g were injected via the tail vein, respectively. Forty-five days after cell transplantation, Morris water maze test was used to detect rat’s learning and memory abilities, and hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to observe pathological changes of the rat hippocampal CA1 region. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the normal group, the rats in the model group showed significant reduction in the ability of learning and memory. Compared with the model group, the escape latency was significantly shortened in the middle-dose hUCMSCs group (P < 0.05), while the number of passing times through the platform was increased significantly (P < 0.05). In the model group, the cells in the hippocampal CA1 region were arranged irregularly with unclear nucleoli and a part of cells were concentrated and deeply stained. In the middle-dose hUCMSCs group, the cells in the hippocampal CA1 region were arranged regularly with clear nucleoli, and only individual cells were stained deeply. These findings indicate that middle-dose hUCMSCs transplantation can improve the learning and memory abilities of Alzheimer’s rats.     

视网膜干细胞移植对青光眼视网膜神经节细胞的保护

BACKGROUND:Stem cell transplantation is a new method for blinding eye disease. But there is a lack of research about the protective effect of retinal stem cell transplantation on retinal ganglion cells in glaucoma. OBJECTIVE:To explore the protective effect of retinal stem cell transplantation on retinal ganglion cells of rats with glaucoma. METHODS:Forty-five Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups (n=15 per group) including control, model and retinal stem cell transplantation groups. Rat models of glaucoma were prepared in the latter two groups, and at 7 days after modeling, rats in the three groups were given intravitreal injection of 1 mL retinal stem cells (5x10⁶ cells), the same amount of PBS, and no treatment, respectively. Subsequently, relative indicators were detected at 2 weeks after transplantation. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The expressions of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and insulin-like growth factor I protein as well as the number of retinal ganglion cells were the highest in the control group, followed by the retinal stem cell transplantation group model group, and the lowest in the model group (P < 0.05). The number of apoptotic retinal ganglion cells in model group was significantly higher than that of control group (P < 0.05), and which in the retinal stem cell transplantation group was significantly lower than that in the model group (P < 0.05), but higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). These results suggest that retinal stem cell transplantation for rat glaucoma can exert a protective effect on retinal ganglion cells.     

脂肪干细胞在颗粒脂肪移植中的作用

背景:血管基质层细胞中含有大量的脂肪干细胞,有研究显示脂肪干细胞在移植过程中可能发挥着很重要的作用。目的:观察脂肪干细胞在颗粒脂肪移植中的作用。方法:选取10只雄性SPF级BALB/C小鼠,取出正常脂肪组织,提取动物腹部脂肪中的脂肪干细胞和颗粒脂肪,选取24只裸鼠作为移植受体,所有动物分为3个实验组,分别为对照组、颗粒脂肪移植组、混合移植组(脂肪干细胞和颗粒脂肪)。2个移植组分别将颗粒脂肪细胞悬液及脂肪干细胞和颗粒脂肪混匀后细胞悬液注射到小鼠腹背左右肩胛处;对照组注射等量的细胞基础培养液。4周后,分离血浆及取出移植物进行指标检测。结果与结论:(1)混合移植组能显著性的增加移植物的质量,降低移植脂肪的吸收率,相对于颗粒脂肪移植组差异有显著性意义(P<0.01);(2)移植后血浆中血管内皮细胞生长因子相对于对照组明显提升,其中混合移植组高于颗粒脂肪移植组(P<0.01);(3)颗粒脂肪移植组碱性成纤维细胞生长因子的含量明显低于相混合移植组;(4)混合移植组微血管密度显著高于颗粒脂肪移植组(P<0.01);(5)动物移植物中的细胞形态较单纯颗粒脂肪细胞完好;(6)混合移植组的脂肪油滴的数目明显多于颗粒脂肪移植组;(6)结果提示,脂肪干细胞能够显著性提高碱性成纤维细胞生长因子的表达,改善移植物的微循环,显著改善颗粒脂肪细胞的形态和功能。     

脂肪间充质干细胞移植治疗1型糖尿病模型大鼠的作用

背景:干细胞移植是1型糖尿病比较有前景的治疗方法,脂肪间充质干细胞是继骨髓间充质干细胞后的又一研究热点。目的:观察脂肪间充质干细胞移植对1型糖尿病大鼠的治疗作用。方法:将45只SD大鼠随机分为正常组、模型组和细胞移植组,后2组采用链脲菌素腹腔注射建立1型糖尿病模型。造模后7 d,正常组腹腔静脉注射生理盐水,模型组腹腔静脉注射无血清的DMEM培养液,细胞移植组腹腔静脉注射脂肪间充质干细胞悬液。移植后2周,监测各组大鼠体质量、血糖水平,ELISA法检测各组大鼠胰岛素分泌量,RT-PCR检测胰腺组织PDX-1 m RNA的表达。结果与结论:(1)移植前细胞移植组与模型组的体质量均低于正常组,移植后2周细胞移植组大鼠体质量逐渐增加,而模型组的体质量持续下降;(2)与正常组比较,模型组大鼠空腹血糖维持在较高水平(P<0.05),与模型组相比,细胞移植组大鼠空腹血糖水平显著下降(P<0.05);(3)与正常组比较,模型组胰岛素水平明显降低(P<0.05),与模型组比较,细胞移植组胰岛素水平则显著增加(P<0.05);(4)正常组胰腺组织PDX-1 mR NA表达最高,模型组最低,各组间比较差异有显著性意义(P<0.05);(5)结果表明,脂肪间充质干细胞移植促进胰岛组织PDX-1表达,改善了大鼠的高血糖状态。     

心肌干细胞调控ANG Ⅱ/AT1R/TGF-β1/SMAD/CX43通路改进心电生理学稳定性和室颤阈值

BACKGROUND:Previous studies have demonstrated that the electrophysiological stability and ventricular fibrillation threshold after myocardial infarction in rats are significantly improved in the mid-term of cardiac stem cell transplantation, but relative regulatory mechanism and pathway remain unclear. OBJECTIVE:To explore the relative molecular regulatory mechanism of cardiac stem cells improving the electrophysiological stability and ventricular fibrillation threshold after myocardial infarction in rats.  METHODS:Myocardial infarction was induced in 20 Sprague-Dawley rats by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary, which were then randomized into two groups (n=10 per group) and were subjected to the injection of cardiac stem cells labeled with PKH26 in phosphate buffer solution (cardiac stem cell group) or the same amount of phosphate buffer solution (PBS) alone (PBS group) into the local infarct zone at 2 weeks after modeling, respectively. Six weeks later, relevant signaling molecules involved in the ANGII/AT1R/TGF-β1/SMAD/Cx43 pathway were all examined in myocardial tissues of the left ventricle and harvested blood samples. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the PBS group, expressions of connexin 43 in different zones of the left ventricle were significantly increased in the cardiac stem cell group (P < 0.01); there was a significant reduction of the angiotensin II level in plasma and different regions of the left ventricular (P < 0.05; P < 0.01). Furthermore, in the cardiac stem cell group, expressions of angiotensin II type I receptor, transforming growth factor-β1, SMAD2 and SMAD3 were significantly decreased (P < 0.01). Whereas SMAD7 was significantly elevated (P < 0.05) in different areas of the left ventricle compared with the phosphate buffer solution group. These findings suggest that the cardiac stem cell transplantation can improve the electrophysiological stability and ventricular fibrillation threshold after myocardial infarction by enhancing the expression of connexin 43 via ANGII/AT1R/TGF-beta1/SMAD/CX43 signaling pathway.     

骨髓间充质干细胞移植脑梗死大鼠：神经功能恢复与突触素的表达

BACKGROUND:Synaptophysin plays an important role in the recovery of neural function after cerebral ischemia. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effects of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation on nervous function and expression of synaptophysin after cerebral infarction. METHODS:Totally 60 rats were equivalently randomized into four groups, including sham operation, control, model and stem cell treatment groups. Rats in the control, model and stem cell treatment groups were used for preparing cerebral infarction models, and the remaining underwent the sham operation. After 1 day of modeling, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were transplanted into the rat lateral ventricle in the stem cell treatment group, and rats in the control group was given the injection of the same amount of PBS. After 1, 7 and 14 days of treatment, rat’s neurological function was scored on beam-walking test, rotarod test and screen test, and expression of synaptophysin was detected by RT-PCR and immunohistochemical assay. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:At 7 and 14 days after treatment, the beam-walking test, rotarod test and screen test scores in the stem cell treatment group were significantly lower than those in the control and model groups (P < 0.05), and the above scores showed no significant differences between the control group and model group (P > 0.05). At 1 day after treatment, the mRNA expression of synaptophysin and the number of synaptophysin-positive cells in the sham operation group were significantly higher than those in the other three groups (P < 0.05); at 7 and 14 days after treatment, the mRNA expression of synaptophysin and the number of synaptophysin-positive cells in the stem cell treatment group were significantly increased compared with the other three groups (P < 0.05), and additionally, the mRNA expression of synaptophysin and the number of synaptophysin-positive cells in the sham operation group were significantly lower than those in the model and control groups (P < 0.05). These findings suggest that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation can effectively promote the recovery of neurological function in cerebral infarction rats, and partially promote the formation of synaptophysin.