Transplantation of Stem Cells from Human Exfoliated Deciduous Teeth Decreases Cognitive Impairment from Chronic Cerebral Ischemia by Reducing Neuronal Apoptosis in Rats

Figure 1

The schematic of the animal experiment. SHED transplantation was performed in CCI rats 24 hours after bilateral ligation of their carotid arteries. One of the two methods was used for the transplantation: rats were injected in either the hippocampus or the tail vein. During the final week of the experiment (fourth week), all animals were subjected to functional evaluation via the Morris water maze. One month after bilateral ligation of their carotid arteries, the animals were euthanized; samples were collected for morphological analysis to determine the number of surviving and apoptotic neurons in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. In addition, the expression levels of BDNF, caspase-3, cleaved caspase-3, PSD95, and SYN were analysed using western blot.