(1) To achieve neuroprotection and vascular protection during the acute and subacute phase of stroke by whole body cooling.

(2) To obtain pre-differentiated, characterized Rt BM-MSC suitable for transplantation purposes.

(3) To assess the effects of the combination of mesenchymal and neuronal precursor cells on functional recovery after stroke in aged rats.

(4) To verify whether fetal neural progenitor cells (NPCs) from transgenic rats expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) retain the ability to differentiate in vitro into neuronal cells.

(5) To characterize both phenotypically and electrophysiologically, mesenchymal, Hu BM-MSC and NPCs after transplantation experiments.

(6) To transfer of know-how related to handling of mesenchymal stem cells for therapeutic purposes.

(7) To achieve pluripotency in somatic cells such as fibroblasts, by genetic manipulation.