Investigating reorganization of the motor cortices following stem cell therapy in a non-human primate model of cortical ischemia

Prior work demonstrated that impairments in fine motor function produced by a controlled ischemic lesion in monkey primary motor cortex were ameliorated by treatment with a cell drug product, CNTO 0007. This drug contains human umbilical tissue-derived cells, in a proprietary thaw and inject formulation. Brain tissue sections from subjects with and without CNTO 0007 therapy were processed immunohistochemically to identify neurons expressing c-Fos as a marker for neuronal activity. Neurons expressing c-Fos were quantified using unbiased stereology. The number of c-Fos positive neurons in dorsal pre-motor cortex ipsilateral to the lesion were greater in treated animals but only approached statistical significance. These findings suggest that cortical reorganization in the dorsal pre-motor cortex may underlie the observed functional recovery. However, c-Fos expressing neurons in other motor areas, such as the ventral pre-motor cortex, remain to be studied