Restoration of tissue damage, and never activity after hypoxia–ischemia by implantation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells

• We reported a simple and effective therapeutic approach for HI encephalopathy.
• Peripheral blood mononuclear cells survived and located in the damage area of brain.
• Peripheral blood mononuclear cells expressed neural marker after transplantation.
• Cell therapy reduced motor impairment, lesion volume and nerve cell apoptosis of rats.
• Migration of cells might be dictated by the damaged brain via SDF-1-dependent pathway.

Hypoxia–ischemia (HI) encephalopathy is a frequent cause of disability and mortality with limited therapeutic options. Here, we collected peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PB-MNCs) from healthy donors and labeled them with CM-DiI before implanting these cells by tail-vein injection into rats at day 3 after hypoxia–ischemia (HI). For immune-suppression the animals received daily injections of cyclosporine throughout the experiment, commencing 24 h before cell transplantation. Then we observed the PB-MNCs by fluorescent microscopy, examined motor function of rats by rotarod and cylinder tests, measured the lesion volume using image-pro plus software, and analyzed the apoptosis of neural cells in HI rats by tunnel assay. The results showed PB-MNCs could survive in the brain of hosts, migrate to the damage area and express neural marker. In addition, The HI rats that received PB-MNCs showed a reduction in motor function impairment, lesion volume and neural cell apoptosis. To better understand the mechanism of cell migration, PB-MNCs were also injected into normal rats via tail-vein. The expression of stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) in the brain of normal and HI rats was measured by RT- PCR and western-blot, while the response of PB-MNCs in vitro to HI or normal brain extracts were measured by cell migration assay. Collectively these data suggest that the migration of PB-MNCs is directed to the damaged brain through an SDF-1-dependent pathway. Our results suggest that intravenous transplantation of PB-MNCs may be a feasible candidate for HI therapy.