Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapies for Cervical Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

Cervical-level injuries account for the majority of presented spinal cord injuries (SCIs) to date. Despite the increase in survival rates due to emergency medicine improvements, overall quality of life remains poor, with patients facing variable deficits in respiratory and motor function. Therapies aiming to ameliorate symptoms and restore function, even partially, are urgently needed. Current therapeutic avenues in SCI seek to increase regenerative capacities through trophic and immunomodulatory factors, provide scaffolding to bridge the lesion site and promote regeneration of native axons, and to replace SCI-lost neurons and glia via intraspinal transplantation. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are a clinically viable means to accomplish this; they have no major ethical barriers, sources can be patient-matched and collected using non-invasive methods. In addition, the patient’s own cells can be used to establish a starter population capable of producing multiple cell types. To date, there is only a limited pool of research examining iPSC-derived transplants in SCI—even less research that is specific to cervical injury. The purpose of the review herein is to explore both preclinical and clinical recent advances in iPSC therapies with a detailed focus on cervical spinal cord injury.

Modeling Human Neurological and Neurodegenerative Diseases: From Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells to Neuronal Differentiation and Its Applications in Neurotrauma

“…The level at which the injury is present determines the symptoms and consequent motor manifestations. To date, cervical SCIs account for the majority of presented SCI cases (Doulames and Plant, 2016 ).…”

The cell repair research of spinal cord injury: a review of cell transplantation to treat spinal cord injury

“…Its therapy mechanism is similar to those of other cells [37]. It is generally believed that cells which survive after transplantation can differentiate into mature neurons and integrate into the host's neural pathways, reducing the extent of lesions and promoting angiogenesis to improve SCI in rat models [38]. However, this technology may cause uncontrolled cell proliferation and tumor formation risks, and not all iPSCs transplantation studies have yielded beneficial results [35].…”

Limbal epithelial stem cells in regeneration of corneal epithelium – clinical and molecular aspects

“…Odkrycie zdolności różni-cowania się mezenchymalnych komórek macierzystych w kierunku komórek tkanki kostnej zaowocowało wprowadzeniem terapii komórkami macierzystymi w schorzeniach reumatycznych i zwyrodnieniowych stawów [8]. Najnowsze doniesienia naukowe wskazują, że zastosowanie komórek macierzystych może ułatwić odbudowę rdzenia kręgowego i pozwolić na przywrócenie sprawności sparaliżowanych kończyn [9,10]. Poszukiwanie nowych możliwości wykorzystania różnych typów komórek macierzystych i kontynuacja badań z ich udziałem wydają się uzasadnione.…”