How Blood Vessels Help the Brain Recover from Stroke

The regrowth of blood vessels helps the brain recover after a stroke. Researchers have found that one useful treatment for stoke is to combine a substance that produces nitric oxide with bone marrow stromal cells, but until recently they were not sure how and why this worked. OU Distinguished Professor Mike Chopp and his colleagues at Henry Ford Hospital recently tested the hypothesis that this combination treatment upregulates angiopoietin-1, a protein growth factor, and its receptor Tie2. In a paper titled "Treatment of Stroke With (Z)-1-[N-(2-aminoethyl)-N(2-ammonioethyl) amino] diazen-1-ium-1, 2-diolate and Bone Marrow Stromal Cells Upregulates Angiopoietin-1/Tie2 and Enhances Neovascularization," in the leading journal Neuroscience (vol. 156, pp. 155-164, 2008) they conclude that the "combination treatment of stroke with DETA-NONOate and bone marrow stromal cells promotes neovascularization, which is at least partially mediated by upregulation of the angiopoietin-1/Tie2 axis."