Recent therapeutic approaches for spinal cord injury

Abstract

A spinal cord injury (SCI) often causes permanent changes in strength and sensation functions below the site of the injury and affects thousands of people each year. Transplantation of stem cells is a promising approach in acute SCI as it may support spinal cord repair. However, in case of chronic SCI greater amounts of nervous tissue have to be regenerated, leaving scaffold transplantation the only feasible option for cellular engraftment and nervous bridging. The aim of regenerative medicine, specifically tissue engineering, is to create a microenvironment that mimics native extracellular matrix (ECM), capable of promoting specific cell-matrix interactions, coaxing cell behavior, and fostering host tissue regeneration. In this regard, nanostructured scaffolds are currently the most promising advanced substrates capable of supporting nervous fiber ingrowth and delivery of neurotrophic drugs. Among them, electrospinning technique and Self-Assembling Peptides (SAPs) have recently attracted lots of attention for their reproducible synthesis and high tailorability. This review highlights clinical trials and recent encouraging strategies for spinal cord repair comprising both cell therapy and nanomedicine.

PCL/gelatin nanofibrous scaffolds with human endometrial stem cells/Schwann cells facilitate axon regeneration in spinal cord injury

“…Cell transplantation has demonstrated promising results in treating SCI (Dias et al, 2018;Raspa et al, 2016;Yiu & He, 2006). This approach can facilitate spinal cord repair through a number of mechanisms, including replacement of damaged cells with the healthy ones and creating regenerative and anti-inflammatory environment through transplanting the cells that secrete the required factors (Agbay et al, 2016;Tetzlaff et al, 2011).…”

Comparison of Preoperative Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Clinical Assessment of Deep Pain Perception as Prognostic Tools for Early Recovery of Motor Function in Paraplegic Dogs with Intervertebral Disk Herniations

“…Research on novel therapies is performed and aims to neutralize or diminish the effects of the early secondary wave of damage 16, 17. Early motor function recovery (MFR) has been rarely explored as an outcome measurement, but represents an opportunity for timelier implementation of novel therapies that could shorten recovery times and contribute to diminish permanent neurological dysfunctions.…”

Feasible stabilization of chondroitinase abc enables reduced astrogliosis in a chronic model of spinal cord injury

“…It could also be a feasible strategy to provide a bigger reservoir of stabilized ChABC by implanting a biodegradable scaffold preserving the storage condition of ChABC we tested: this could be achieved, for example, by co‐injecting nanoparticles, previously loaded with stabilized ChABC, with self‐assembling peptide scaffolds that already showed promising results in SCI regeneration in vivo . In another interesting approach, Bartus et al.…”