# MR Analysis of Pre-Conditioned Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Stroke Therapy

> **NIH NIH R01** · FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $333,143

## Abstract

Project Summary
 In the US, stroke is the third leading cause of death and primary cause of severe disability, with over
700,000 individuals experiencing an ischemic episode each year. Tissue plasminogen activator, the only FDA
approved thrombolytic drug for stroke, must be infused within a short period following the initial ischemia and
has limited benefits and outcomes. Stroke therapy using adult stem cells such as human mesenchymal stem
cells (hMSC) from bone marrow and adipose tissue sources has emerged as a promising avenue to reduce
and reverse neurodegeneration resulting from stroke by promoting tissue protection and repair. The project
seeks to (a) investigate the in vivo fate and mechanisms of implanted hMSC that underlie their homing and
therapeutic benefits in stroke treatment using high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy
(MRS) and (b) define expansion and pre-conditioning culture environments that preserve hMSC therapeutic
potency. The project's hypothesis is that hMSC expansion conditions impact efficacy in stroke treatment
though hypoxic induction factors, and these impacts can be monitored and further optimized with time course
information gathered by in vivo high field MRI and MRS about functional recovery. The project is built upon
complementary expertise and preliminary results in high field MRI analysis of hMSC fate in stroked animals as
well as bioreactor systems for hMSC expansion. The project will investigate the migration and engraftment of
culture-expanded hMSC within stroke lesions by MR techniques and delineate the impact of hypoxic pre-
conditioning and aggregation on hMSC in vivo fate. The project also will evaluate the interactions of hMSC and
endogenous neuroprogenitors and their synergist role in stroke lesion recovery. The goal of these efforts will
be to determine achieve timed injections of culture expanded hMSC during stroke recovery and determine the
efficacy of hMSC therapy beyond the current window of thrombolytic drugs. Additionally, as a means of
translating findings, the project investigates bioreactor conditions that enable scalable expansion to increase
availability to human patients and impact therapeutic efficacy. The success of this project will expand
knowledge about in vivo hMSC fate as influenced by pre-activation, identify the mechanisms and range of
impacts for hMSC action in stroke recovery, and establish a scalable bioreactor strategy for clinical translation.
Relevance
 Current thrombolytic agents must be employed quickly after ischemic onset, limiting their effectiveness in all
but 5% of stroke patients. hMSC promote stroke lesion recovery outside this acute window, but their eventual
clinical application requires in-depth knowledge of mechanisms and biodistribution as well as the availability of
a transplantable cell population. Utilizing a unique set of experiments, the project is designed to provide
mechanistic insights into the efficacy of bioreactor expanded and pre-...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9913600
- **Project number:** 5R01NS102395-04
- **Recipient organization:** FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Samuel Colles Grant
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $333,143
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-15 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9913600

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9913600, MR Analysis of Pre-Conditioned Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Stroke Therapy (5R01NS102395-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9913600. Licensed CC0.

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