Pericytes possess high multipotent features and cell plasticity, and produce angiogenic and neurotrophic factors that indicate their high regenerative potential. The aim of this study was to investigate whether transplantation of adipose-derived pericytes can improve functional recovery and neurovascular plasticity after ischemic stroke in rats. Rat adipose-derived pericytes were isolated from subcutaneous adipose tissue by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Adult male Wistar rats were subjected to 90 min of middle cerebral artery occlusion followed by intravenous injection of rat adipose-derived pericytes 24 h later. Functional recovery evaluations were performed at 1, 7, 14, and 28 days after injection of rat adipose-derived pericytes. Angiogenesis and neurogenesis were examined in rat brains using immunohistochemistry. It was observed that intravenous injection of adipose-derived pericytes significantly improved recovery of neurological function in rats with stroke compared to phosphate-buffered saline–treated controls. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that the number of blood capillaries was significantly increased along the ischemic boundary zone of the cortex and striatum in stroke rats treated with adipose-derived pericytes. In addition, treatment with adipose-derived pericytes increased the number of doublecortin positive neuroblasts. Our data suggest that transplantation of adipose-derived pericytes can significantly improve the neurologic status and contribute to neurovascular remodeling in rats after ischemic stroke. These data provide a new insight for future cell therapies that aim to treat ischemic stroke patients.

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The production of erythrocytes from human hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) is considered one of the solutions to the deficiency of donor blood in transfusion medicine. The disadvantage of using HSC is the difficulty in multiplying in the required amount for use in transfusion. In this regard, pluripotent stem cells that can be multiplied in sufficient quantity may become a source of functional erythrocytes. The aim of this work was to study the effects of hypoxia on the formation of erythrocytes from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in ex vivo conditions. For the obtaining the erythroid bodies (EB), human iPSCs were cultured in induction medium containing human plasma and SCF, VEGF, BMP-4, TPO, EPO, interleukins IL-3 and IL-6 (20 days). EB treated with collagenase and cultured in a 96-well suspension culture plate under normoxia (21% O2) and hypoxia (2% O2) conditions in IMDM medium containing 20% ​​human plasma, SCF, IL-3, Epo, insulin and heparin. Erythroid maturation was evaluated by Giemsastaining and flow cytometry analysis ofCD235α. As a result of PSC differentiation, EBs with spherical morphology and sizes from 120 to 300 µm were obtained. Analysis for erythroid maturation showed that the number of mature erythrocytes with expression of CD235α after hypoxia averaged 56%, and after normoxia 19.3% of the total number of analyzed cells. The size of erythrocytes formed from iPSCs averaged 7 μm, which corresponds to the mature form of this type of cells. Thus, the obtained results of the study indicate that hypoxia plays a significant role in erythropoiesis, increasing the level of erythrocyte formation from human iPSCs.