A) Epifluorescence image of coronal section from a representative mouse brain that underwent MCAL and was injected with 1.25 × 105 GFP CD133dMSCs the following day. Red autofluorescence indicates the stroke area and GFP CD133dhMSCs localize to the needle track in the peri-infarct area 48 hrs post-injection. Inset: Cresyl violet stain and schematic of stroke area (dotted black line) and injected cells (green line). B) Human-specific quantitative RT-PCR for mRNAs of CD133dMSC secreted-factors was performed on RNA isolated from brain tissues of mice that underwent MCAL or sham surgery three days prior. Numerical values indicate the fold change in mRNA levels for each factor in MCAL versus sham-operated mice. The mRNA level for each sample was normalized to its corresponding human GAPDH mRNA level. mRNA levels were quantified by the ΔΔCt method. Animal numbers for each factor: IL-6: 4 sham, 4 stroke; ADM: 8 sham, 8 stroke; VEGF: 5 sham, 8 stroke; SDF-1: 10 sham, 12 stroke; PLGF: 4 sham, 4 stroke; HGF: 7 sham, 6 stroke. ** P ≤ 0.01. Error bars indicate standard error of mean.