Expression of nestin and glial-derived neurotrophic factor in human endogenous neural stem cells following ischemia.

Objectives: We investigated the relationship between glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), nestin, and the activation of endogenous neural stem cells (NSCs) following cerebral infarction in humans. Methods: Post-mortem brain specimens from patients who died following cerebral infarction were examined. Results: Compared with the controls, the number of nestin-positive cells was increased at 4.5-10 hours in the subgranular zone of the hippocampus dentate gyrus and at 24-72 hours in the subventricular zone, reaching maximum levels at 120-144 hours. Cell numbers decreased at 216-326 hours, but remained elevated compared with controls. Similar results were found when examining the expression of GDNF following ischemia. Furthermore, the expression of nestin and GDNF showed a statistically significant positive correlation over time. Conclusions: Our results indicate that, as in other mammals, proliferation of endogenous neural stem cells in the subventricular zone and subgranular zone of the hippocampus dentate gyrus of humans is activated by cerebral infarction and may be related to increases in GDNF expression.