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Journal of Neurorestoratology 2017, 5(1): 125-131 https://doi.org/10.2147/JN.S139677
Review | Open Access | Issue | Published: 03 July 2017

Stem cell-based therapies to treat spinal cord injury: a review

Show Author's Information Zhongju Shi1,2,  Hongyun Huang3,  Shiqing Feng1,2( )
Department of Orthopaedics, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital,
Institute of Neurology, Key Laboratory of Post-Neuroinjury Neuro-Repair and Regeneration in Central Nervous System, Ministry of Education, Tianjin City, Tianjin, 3Institute of Neurorestoratology, General Hospital of Armed Police Forces, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
Keywords:
spinal cord injury, induced pluripotent stem cells, neural stem cells, bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells, adipose-derived stem cells, embryonic stem cells
Cite this article:
Shi Z, Huang H, Feng S. Stem cell-based therapies to treat spinal cord injury: a review. Journal of Neurorestoratology, 2017, 5(1): 125-131. https://doi.org/10.2147/JN.S139677
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Abstract Full text About this article

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition and major burden on society and individuals. Currently, neurorestorative strategies, including stem cell therapy products or mature/functionally differentiated cell-derived cell therapy products, can restore patients with chronic complete SCI to some degree of neurological functions. The stem cells for neurorestoration include neural stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, etc. A better understanding of the merits, demerits and precise function of different stem cells in the treatment of SCI may aid in the development of neurorestorative strategies. However, the efficacy, safety and ethical concerns of stem cell-based therapy continue to be challenged. Nonetheless, stem cell-based therapies hold promise of widespread applications, particularly in areas of SCI, and have the potential to be novel therapeutics, which contributes to the repair of SCI. This review mainly focused on recent advances regarding the stem cell-based therapies in the treatment of SCI and discussed future perspectives in this field.


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About this article

Stem cell-based therapies to treat spinal cord injury: a review

Show Author's information Zhongju Shi1,2, Hongyun Huang3, Shiqing Feng1,2( )
Department of Orthopaedics, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital,
Institute of Neurology, Key Laboratory of Post-Neuroinjury Neuro-Repair and Regeneration in Central Nervous System, Ministry of Education, Tianjin City, Tianjin, 3Institute of Neurorestoratology, General Hospital of Armed Police Forces, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

Abstract

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition and major burden on society and individuals. Currently, neurorestorative strategies, including stem cell therapy products or mature/functionally differentiated cell-derived cell therapy products, can restore patients with chronic complete SCI to some degree of neurological functions. The stem cells for neurorestoration include neural stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, etc. A better understanding of the merits, demerits and precise function of different stem cells in the treatment of SCI may aid in the development of neurorestorative strategies. However, the efficacy, safety and ethical concerns of stem cell-based therapy continue to be challenged. Nonetheless, stem cell-based therapies hold promise of widespread applications, particularly in areas of SCI, and have the potential to be novel therapeutics, which contributes to the repair of SCI. This review mainly focused on recent advances regarding the stem cell-based therapies in the treatment of SCI and discussed future perspectives in this field.

Keywords: spinal cord injury, induced pluripotent stem cells, neural stem cells, bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells, adipose-derived stem cells, embryonic stem cells

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Published: 03 July 2017
Issue date: December 2017

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© 2017 The Author(s).

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This work was supported by the State Key Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81330042); the International Cooperation Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (81620108018); the Special Program for Sino-Russian Joint Research Sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology, China (2014DFR31210) and the Key Program Sponsored by the Tianjin Science and Technology Committee, China (13RCGFSY19000 and 14ZCZDSY00044).

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