“…It has also been shown that immature, but not mature, cultured astrocytes have the capacity to support in vitro neurogenesis from NSC (Song et al, 2002) as well as axon outgrowth when transplanted into the CNS (Smith et al, 1990). Moreover, due to their ability to proliferate, their intrinsic plasticity and reduced antigenicity, when compared with adult tissue, fetal cells are considered clinically important for medical transplantation (Mandel, 1992;Statter et al, 1989). Taken together, this suggests that immature human spinal cord derived GFAP 1 astrocytes can be suitable candidates for further experimental studies to determine their ability to treat acute spinal cord injury.…”