Cell therapy for improved post-stroke functional recovery

Ischemic stroke is an acute insult leading to death of brain cells. A majority of stroke survivors exhibit different degrees of functional impairments.

Apart from thrombolysis and thrombectomy during the first hours after a stroke, treatment that can be given to only a fraction of patients, no effective treatment to improve functional recovery exists in the post-ischemic phase.

Therefore, all efforts at bringing the latest advances of science and technology a step closer to the development stroke therapies should be vigorously promoted.

Recent developments in cell reprogramming and neuroinflammation together with our experience and methodological capability allow us to address following hypotheses: transplantation of primed cortical precursors reprogrammed from human somatic cells into stroke-damaged brain can improve functional recovery after the insult, and that modulation of the inflammatory response can optimize the recovery process.

Our hypothesis is based on series of our recent studies showing the feasibility of neuronal replacement as potential approach for restoration of stroke-damaged neuronal network.

Our project includes clinical study in stroke-patients and aims to explore whether phenotype of circulating monocytes can be used as a new prognostic tool to predict stroke outcome and to modulate post-stroke recovery. Our project could contribute to the development of new therapeutic strategies for stroke patients.