Distribution of MNC hUCB cells in the spinal cord of G93A mice.

<p>Administered MNC hUCB cells were identified immunohistochemically by a human-specific marker (HuNu) in the spinal cord of cell-treated mice at 17 weeks of age, 4 weeks (symptomatic) or 8 weeks (pre-symptomatic) post-transplant. In the total area of cervical (<b>A</b>) and lumbar (<b>B</b>) cervical spinal cord, HuNu positive MNC hUCB cells were found irrespective (p>0.05) of injected cell doses or time beginning treatment. In all cell-treated mice, more than 50% of the observed cells were in ventral horn gray matter. (<b>C</b>) Immunohistochemical staining of MNC hUCB cells in the lumbar spinal cord. MNC hUCB cells positive for HuNu (green, arrow) were detected in the lumbar spinal cord of mice receiving 2.5×10⁶ (<b>a</b>) or 1×10⁶ (<b>b</b>) cells symptomatically or 1×10⁶ cells pre-symptomatically (<b>c</b>). Cells were frequently observed inside the capillary lumen, but also in the spinal cord parenchyma. (<b>a′</b>), (<b>b′</b>), and (<b>c′</b>) are merged images with DAPI. Scale bar: a–c′ is 50 µm.