Pluripotent Stem Cells for Spinal Cord Injury Repair

Abstract

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition of the central nervous system that strongly reduces the patient’s quality of life and has large financial costs for the healthcare system. Cell therapy has shown considerable therapeutic potential for SCI treatment in different animal models. Although many different cell types have been investigated with the goal of promoting repair and recovery from injury, stem cells appear to be the most promising. Here, we review the experimental approaches that have been carried out with pluripotent stem cells, a cell type that, due to its inherent plasticity, self-renewal, and differentiation potential, represents an attractive source for the development of new cell therapies for SCI. We will focus on several key observations that illustrate the potential of cell therapy for SCI, and we will attempt to draw some conclusions from the studies performed to date.

Adult spinal cord tissue transplantation combined with local tacrolimus sustained‐release collagen hydrogel promotes complete spinal cord injury repair

“…41,42 However, the toxicity and side effects caused by immunosuppressants are largely ignored. 43 Using a Tac dose of 3 mg/kg/ day could result in continued body weight decline in cell transplantation treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 44 There were inevitable complications, including infection, chronic allograft nephropathy, neurotoxicity and liver damage, in organ transplantation clinical research caused by Tac, further accelerating SCI complication owing to low resistance.…”

“…Cell and tissue transplantation reportedly produced potential benefits in SCI treatments in the previous two decades; however, a lack of standardization between studies, including immunosuppression regimes, has limited development. 43 Unlike solid organ transplantation, there is no vascular remodelling at the graft site. Therefore, effective immunosuppressant concentration in the injured spinal cord area could be lower than that in the blood.…”

“…Tac is also the first choice for transplanting allogeneic or xenogeneic grafts for SCI therapy 41,42 . However, the toxicity and side effects caused by immunosuppressants are largely ignored 43 . Using a Tac dose of 3 mg/kg/day could result in continued body weight decline in cell transplantation treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis 44 .…”

Research hotspots and trends for axon regeneration (2000–2021): a bibliometric study and systematic review

“…In the Puerta de Hierro phase 1/2 clinical trials, applying autologous bone marrow adult mesenchymal stem cells by intrathecal injection, all SCI patients including people with the longest disease duration have gradually recovered in clinical parameters [ 57 ]. The application of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) is another promising technology with less ethical problems and higher self-renewal ability [ 58 ]. iPSCs have been proven the capability of promoting axon regeneration and myelination and improving the local environment in SCI animal models [ 59 , 60 ].…”

Transplantation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neural Progenitor Cells Promotes Forelimb Functional Recovery after Cervical Spinal Cord Injury

“…Unfortunately, effective therapies, which could bring meaningful functional recovery after SCI, are currently unavailable. Human iPSC-based transplantation therapy could bring new hope to patients with SCI [ 11 , 12 , 13 ]. Indeed, hiPSC derived NSCs or NPCs have been shown to survive and differentiate into neurons and glial cells in the injured spinal cord after transplantation [ 14 , 15 , 16 ].…”