Stem cells reverse stroke damage and restore movement in mice

Stem cell transplants helped regenerate stroke-damaged brain tissue in mice, producing new neurons and restoring lost motor function. The treatment also improved blood vessels, inflammation, and the blood-brain barrier, raising hopes that a similar approach could eventually help repair the human brain after stroke. Stem cells reverse stroke damage and restore movement in mice.

The neurite projections of the transplanted human cells are stained in dark brown. Neurites extend locally into the cortex (CX) but also via the corpus callosum (CC) into the other brain hemisphere. In experiments with mice, the treatment helped generate new neurons, restore movement, and trigger several other forms of brain repair, offering a promising step toward regenerative treatments for neurological damage.

Stroke is extremely common, affecting about one in four adults over a lifetime. Roughly half of those who experience one are left with lasting problems such as paralysis or difficulty speaking. These disabilities can occur because a stroke deprives parts of the brain of oxygen or causes bleeding that destroys brain cells.