Presently, there is no cure or effective treatment for spinal cord injury (SCI). Studies in SCI patients have shown that for a treatment to be effective it must primarily improve their quality of life. Numerous studies have shown that stem cells represent an alternative treatment for various disorders and have shown promise in several disease/trauma states. For instance, the use of autologous CD34 + stem cells has been shown to ameliorate symptoms of several disorders such as leukemia, cardiomyopathy, diabetes, and several autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis. For the first time, we report eight case studies of SCI (four acute, four chronic) with approximately 2 years of follow-up that were administered bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) via multiple routes: directly into the spinal cord, directly into the spinal canal, and intravenous. Magnetic resonance imaging illustrated morphological changes in the spinal cord of some of the patients following BMSCs administration. Comprehensive evaluations demonstrate improvements in ASIA, Barthel (quality of life), Frankel, and Ashworth scoring. Moreover, in order to assess bladder function, we designed a simple numerical clinical scoring system that demonstrates significant changes in bladder function following BMSCs administration. To date, we have administration BMSCs into 52 patients with SCI and have had no tumor formations, no cases of infection or increased pain, and few instances of minor adverse events. These studies demonstrate that BMSCs administration via multiple routes is feasible, safe, and may improve the quality of life for patients living with SCI.

The synthesis of HLA-G is increased in monocytes and certain T lymphocytes from HIV-1-infected individuals.

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Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) maintain spermatogenesis by self-renewal and generation of spermatogonia committed to differentiation. Under certain in vitro conditions, SSCs from both neonatal and adult mouse testis can reportedly generate multipotent germ cell (mGC) lines that have characteristics and differentiation potential similar to embryonic stem (ES) cells. However, mGCs generated in different laboratories showed different germ cell characteristics, i.e., some retain their SSC properties and some have lost them completely. This raises an important question: whether mGC lines have been generated from different subpopulations in the mouse testes. To unambiguously identify and track germ line stem cells, we utilized a transgenic mouse model expressing green fluorescence protein under the control of a germ cell-specific Pou5f1 (Oct4) promoter. We found two distinct populations among the germ line stem cells with regard to their expression of transcription factor Pou5f1 and c-Kit receptor. Only the POU5F1C/c-KitC subset of mouse germ line stem cells, when isolated from either neonatal or adult testes and cultured in a complex mixture of growth factors, generates cell lines that express pluripotent ES markers, i.e., Pou5f1, Nanog, Sox2, Rex1, Dppa5, SSEA-1, and alkaline phosphatase, exhibit high telomerase activity, and differentiate into multiple lineages, including beating cardiomyocytes, neural cells, and chondrocytes. These data clearly show the existence of two distinct populations within germ line stem cells: one destined to become SSC and the other with the ability to generate multipotent cell lines with some pluripotent characteristics. These findings raise interesting questions about the relativity of pluripotency and the plasticity of germ line stem cells.