Hydrogels and Cell Based Therapies in Spinal Cord Injury Regeneration

Abstract

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a central nervous system- (CNS-) related disorder for which there is yet no successful treatment. Within the past several years, cell-based therapies have been explored for SCI repair, including the use of pluripotent human stem cells, and a number of adult-derived stem and mature cells such as mesenchymal stem cells, olfactory ensheathing cells, and Schwann cells. Although promising, cell transplantation is often overturned by the poor cell survival in the treatment of spinal cord injuries. Alternatively, the therapeutic role of different cells has been used in tissue engineering approaches by engrafting cells with biomaterials. The latter have the advantages of physically mimicking the CNS tissue, while promoting a more permissive environment for cell survival, growth, and differentiation. The roles of both cell- and biomaterial-based therapies as single therapeutic approaches for SCI repair will be discussed in this review. Moreover, as the multifactorial inhibitory environment of a SCI suggests that combinatorial approaches would be more effective, the importance of using biomaterials as cell carriers will be herein highlighted, as well as the recent advances and achievements of these promising tools for neural tissue regeneration.

Injectable Extracellular Matrix Hydrogels as Scaffolds for Spinal Cord Injury Repair

“…2,3 In addition to these approaches, tissue-engineered scaffolds play an important role in providing supportive substrates that contribute to replacing lost tissue and re-establishing damaged connections after SCI. [4][5][6][7] In terms of SCI repair, biomaterials, with their own intrinsic biological activity that would encourage endogenous tissue repair without the need for additional bioactive molecules such as exogenous growth factors or peptides, may provide high treatment effectivity together with relative ease of application and scalable manufacturing potential. 8 In contrast to artificial tissue-engineered materials that fail to mimic the complex structure and chemistry of the extracellular microenvironment seen in vivo, biological scaffolds composed of native extracellular matrix (ECM) represent structures very similar to those of the uninjured host tissue with advantages, such as a natural three-dimensional (3D) structure, biological activity promoting cell adhesion and proliferation, and biodegradability.…”

Варіативність Кореляції Рівня Функції Та Спастичності Паретичної Кінцівки За Різного Перебігу Відновного Процесу На Моделі Спінальної Травми

“…Незважаючи на значну біомедичну та соціально-економічну вагу про-блеми спінальної травми [1][2][3], тривалу зацікав-леність наукової спільноти питаннями віднов-лення функції ураженого спинного мозку [4][5][6][7], багато питань цього кола залишаються невивче-ними. Травма спинного мозку перебуває в аван-гарді сучасної біо технологічної галузі, до її вирі-шення залучаються найновіші розробки біонічно-го (нейропротезування, екзоскелетування) [8][9][10], біогенного (тканинна нейроінженерія) [11][12][13][14] та комплексного [15] характеру. Одними із най-складніших, з патофізіологічної точки зору, пи-тань є механізми формування синдрому спас-тичності, який виявляють у 45-78 % спінальних хворих [16][17][18][19].…”

Commercializing Electrospun Scaffolds For Pluripotent Stem Cell-Based Tissue Engineering Applications

“…In terms of tissue engineering, the most commonly used scaffolds are hydrogels fabricated from biomaterials that are used to culture, expand, and differentiate PSCs [28][29][30][31]. Hydrogels consist of cross-linked polymer networks that contain high water content.…”