Neurogenesis as a Tool for Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

Spinal cord injury is a devastating medical condition with no effective treatment. One approach to SCI treatment may be provided by stem cells (SCs). Studies have mainly focused on the transplantation of exogenous SCs, but the induction of endogenous SCs has also been considered as an alternative. While the differentiation potential of neural stem cells in the brain neurogenic regions has been known for decades, there are ongoing debates regarding the multipotent differentiation potential of the ependymal cells of the central canal in the spinal cord (SCECs). Following spinal cord insult, SCECs start to proliferate and differentiate mostly into astrocytes and partly into oligodendrocytes, but not into neurons. However, there are several approaches concerning how to increase neurogenesis in the injured spinal cord, which are discussed in this review. The potential treatment approaches include drug administration, the reduction of neuroinflammation, neuromodulation with physical factors and in vivo reprogramming.

Application and prospects of somatic cell reprogramming technology for spinal cord injury treatment

“…The development of somatic cell reprogramming approaches for spinal cord repair has progressed rapidly in recent years. However, due to the complexity of this process, the specific mechanisms require further investigation ( Havelikova et al, 2022 ). Bypassing the iPSC phase during somatic cell reprogramming could avoid the potential risk of tumor formation.…”

Reprogramming stem cells in regenerative medicine

“…Previous stem cell transplantation studies have shown low cell survival rates and faced rejection and ethical issues 47 . In vivo neuronal reprogramming is a recently developed technique for neural injury repair that has made a breakthrough in regenerative medicine 48 . Traditional means of reprogramming glial cells with the help of viruses are associated with the risk of uncontrolled differentiation and tumorigenicity.…”

“…47 In vivo neuronal reprogramming is a recently developed technique for neural injury repair that has made a breakthrough in regenerative medicine. 48 Traditional means of reprogramming glial cells with the help of viruses are associated with the risk of uncontrolled differentiation and tumorigenicity. At the same time, previous small-molecule reprogramming often has the disadvantage of being multistep, complex, and lengthy, and thus its application can be limited.…”

The roles and applications of neural stem cells in spinal cord injury repair

“…However, it is also debatable whether ependymal cells are endogenous NSCs in the spinal cord ( Havelikova et al, 2022 ). This is largely because of the quiescent behavior of ependymal cells in vivo .…”

“…Nonetheless, due to the lack of evidence, ependymal rather than sub-ependymal cells are commonly considered NSCs in the spinal cord (Grégoire et al, 2015;Stenudd et al, 2015;Xue W. et al, 2021). However, it is also debatable whether ependymal cells are endogenous NSCs in the spinal cord (Havelikova et al, 2022). This is largely because of the quiescent behavior of ependymal cells in vivo.…”