EurekAlert -- Inserting tiny scaffolding into the brain could dramatically reduce damage caused by strokes the UK National Stem Cell Network Annual Science Meeting will hear today (10 April). Speaking at the conference in Edinburgh, Dr Mike Modo from the Institute of Psychiatry will explain how combining scaffold microparticles with neural stem cells (NSCs) could regenerate lost brain tissue. Strokes cause temporary loss of blood supply to the brain which results in areas of brain tissue dying - causing loss of bodily functions such as speech and movement. Neural Stem Cells offer exciting possibilities for tissue regeneration, but there are currently major limitations in delivering these cells to the brain. And while NSC transplantation has been proven to improve functional outcomes in rats with stroke damage little reduction in lesion volume has been observed.
