Figure 1

Proliferation is increased in aged rats following UCBMC treatment. To determine if UCBMC could stimulate proliferation of the hippocampal neural progenitor/stem cells rats received two i.p. injections of BrdU (50 mg/kg) and were sacrifice the following day. (A) Quantification of the BrdU immunoreactive cell in the SGZ/GCL in aged rats 2 days after the UCBMC treatment showed that there was a significant (p < 0.005) increase in the number of BrdU immunoreactive cells. (B, C) Photomicrographs of the dentate gyrus of a media-treated rat (B) and a UCBMC-treated rat (C) shows the BrdU staining in those animals sacrificed 2 days after the treatment. (D)The arrow in C points to a cluster of BrdU immunoreactive cells from the UCBMC-treated rat shown in D at higher magnification. (E) To determine how long proliferation might remain elevated injections of BrdU (50 mg/kg) began 14 days after the treatment. Quantification of the BrdU immunoreactive cells determine that the UCBMC-treated group had significantly (p < 0.01) more cells in the SGZ/GCL then the animals that received media alone. (F, G) BrdU staining of the media-treated (F) and the UCBMC-treated (G) animals in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus 15 days after the treatment. (H) Arrow in G points to cells shown at higher magnification in H. (scale bar for B, C, F, G is 100 μm; scale bar for D, H is 25 μm)