Olfactory Stem Cells for the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury—A New Pathway to the Cure?

Abstract

Because full functional recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI) remains a major challenge, stem cell therapies represent promising strategies to improve neurologic functions after SCI. The olfactory mucosa (OM) displays an attractive source of multipotent cells for regenerative approaches and is easily accessible by biopsies because of its exposed location. The regenerative capacity of the resident olfactory stem cells (OSCs) has been demonstrated in animal as well as clinical studies. This study aims to demonstrate the feasibility of isolation, purification and cultivation of OSCs. OM specimens were taken dorso-posterior from nasal middle turbinate. OSCs were isolated and purified using the neurosphere assay. Differentiation capacity of the OSCs in neural lineage and their behavior in a plasma clot matrix were investigated. Our study demonstrated that OSCs differentiated into neural lineage and were positive for GFAP as well as β-III tubulin. Furthermore, OSCs were viable and proliferated in a plasma clot matrix. Because there are no standard methods for purification, characterization, and delivery of OSCs to the injury site, which is a prerequisite for the clinical approval, this study focuses on the establishment of appropriate methods and underlines the high potential of the OM for autologous cell therapeutic approaches.