*2.2. Morphometric Analysis of Infarct Area*

Three weeks after ischemic stroke modelling, cerebral infarction volume analysis revealed an infarct zone located in the parietal lobe (parietal cortex, area 1 (Par1), which corresponds to the site of MCAO (Figure 2A,B). Morphometric analysis of the brain cortex infarct cavities volume showed the differences between therapeutic and control groups (Figure 2C,D). The infarct cavities volume was significantly less in the Ad5-VEGF-GDNF-NCAM (0.177 [0.155; 0.197]) and UCB-MC+Ad5-VEGF-GDNF-NCAM (0.070 [0.014; 0.245]) groups when compared with the control saline (0.607 [0.568; 0.759]) and Ad5-GFP (0.817 [0.754; 0.865]) groups (*p* < 0.05). In the UCB-MC+Ad5-GFP (0.249 [0.119; 0.305]) group, the infarction volume did not differ from the gene-treated groups and was lower when compared with the saline group (*p* < 0.05) (Figure 2E).

### *2.3. Immunofluorescent Study of Brain*

Comparative analysis of the molecular and cellular changes in the peri-infarct zone (Figure 2C) of experimental rats' brains revealed different patterns in the expression of cellular stress, apoptosis, and synaptic proteins and in the reorganization of neuroglial cells in relation to data obtained from intact animals.

**Figure 2.** Ischemic stroke in rats 3 weeks after the distal middle cerebral artery occlusion. (**A**,**C**)—The brain from the control (NaCl) group. (**B**,**D**)—The brain from the therapeutic (UCB-MC+Ad5-VEGF-GDNF-NCAM) group. In (**A**) and (**B**) the stroke area in the parietal lobe of the brain is shown with the arrow. Par1—cortex parietals, area 1 is marked by a dotted line. In (**C**) and (**D**)—frontal sections of the brain in the stroke area stained with hematoxylin and eosin. RH—right hemisphere; LH—left hemisphere. Inserts with arrows show the stroke area with the maximum depth and the maximum radius of the infarct cavities at higher magnification. White boxes in the insert in (**C**) panel indicate areas with S = 0.05 mm<sup>2</sup> in the peri-infarct zone used for immunofluorescent analysis. (**E**)—comparative morphometric analysis of the infarct cavities volume in experimental groups; \*—*p* < 0.05.
