However, the discrepancy between promoter methylation and MGMT negativity necessitates com-bined immunostaining and methylation specific PCR. Spinal cord injury results in severe and permanent disability, yet there is no single effective therapeutic option to improve functional outcomes. Growth factor treatment is consid-ered as one of the important components for the future combinatorial strategies to repair injured spinal cord. Vascular endothelial growth factor was originally characterized as a potent stimulator of angiogenesis. Later,FDA-approved Compound Library multifaceted trophic effects of VEGF have been uncovered in nervous tissue. VEGF provides direct protective effects on neurons and enhances neurite outgrowth. It also supports survival and proliferation of various glial cells. The neuroprotective effects of VEGF as well as the angiogenic activity led to improved functional outcomes in animal models of traumatic spinal cord injury and other neurological Screening Libraries disorders. Endogenous stem or progenitor cells that can differentiate into neurons and glial cells are also present in adult spinal cord. The progenitors in glial lineage are stimulated to proliferate in response to SCI. Proliferating glial progenitors are persistently found until several weeks after injury, and they are believed to differentiate into mature glial cells, eventually replacing the lost oligodendrocytes and astrocytes. These findings suggest a promising possibility that mobilization of endogenous glial progen-itors can provide a therapeutic opportunity to repair the white matter damaged by traumatic SCI. Recently, the versatile actions of VEGF has been expanded to stimulating proliferation of endoge-nous neural stem or progenitor cells, and VEGF was shown to increase endogenous neurogenesis after stroke. However, potential effects of VEGF on the glial progenitor cells in the spinal cord after injury have not been investigated. The present study was undertaken to examine multifaceted therapeutic effects of VEGF in a rat model of contusive SCI, focusing on its capability to stimulate proliferation of endogenous glial progenitor cells. Sustained delivery of growth factors to diseased CNS remains a demanding challenge.