Experimental techniques to evaluate IA-MSCs-mediated alleviation of vasogenic edema following ischemic stroke.

Ischemic stroke induced cerebral edema is a devastating complication which leads to excessive swelling, increased intracranial pressure (ICP) and rapid neurological deterioration. The mortality rate of post-stroke cerebral edema is approximately 80 %. However, therapeutic options for post-stroke cerebral edema are sparce, emphasizing an urgent need to explore new therapeutic strategies for post-stroke edema. In past few decades stem cell therapy has been a promising therapeutic strategy in decreasing infarct volume and promoting functional recovery by various mechanisms following stroke. Previous studies from our lab demonstrated that IA-MSCs administration were beneficial in mitigating post-stroke edema by regulating PKCδ/ MMP9/AQP4 axis and promoting blood-brain-barrier (BBB) integrity. It has also been reported that IA-MSCs administration mitigate post-stroke edema by maintaining BBB integrity, mitochondria function and regulating AQP4 expression by modulation of the SIRT-1/PKCδ/NF-κB axis. In this chapter, we illustrated a multi-level methodological approach to assess therapeutic outcomes of IA-MSCs in alleviating post-stroke cerebral edema by utilizing behavioural analyses, histological staining, biochemical assays, mitochondrial functional assays and molecular investigations by RT-PCR, western blotting and immunofluorescence staining.