Abstract
The application of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technologies in cell based strategies, for the repair of the central nervous system (with particular focus on the spinal cord), is moving towards the potential use of clinical grade donor cells. The ability of iPSCs to generate donor neuronal, glial and astrocytic phenotypes for transplantation is highlighted here, and we review recent research using iPSCs in attempts to treat spinal cord injury in various animal models. Also discussed are issues relating to the production of clinical grade iPSCs, recent advances in transdifferentiation protocols for iPSC-derived donor cell populations, concerns about tumourogenicity, and whether iPSC technologies offer any advantages over previous donor cell candidates or tissues already in use as therapeutic tools in experimental spinal cord injury studies.
Highlights
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is characterised by damage to sensory and motor function, the extent of any functional loss dependent on the location, extent and type of injury
Extensive research has been conducted into clinically relevant cell transplantation strategies to either promote regeneration or to replace damaged/missing cell populations using: fibroblasts, peripheral nerve grafts and Schwann cell bridges, olfactory ensheathing glia (OEG), embryonic stem cells (ESCs), oligodendroglial progenitor cells (OPCs), adult neural precursor cells (NPCs) and neural stem cells (NSCs), autologous macrophages and mesenchymal precursor cells (MPCs) isolated from bone marrow stroma (BMSCs)
Whilst the extent of hindlimb versus forelimb recovery may vary depending on the type and complexity of restored or adapted neural circuitry [60], it is important to note that independent researchers that attempted to replicate this study revealed conflicting data relating to ingrowth of host axons into the grafts and behavioural outcomes [67]
Summary
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is characterised by damage to sensory and motor function, the extent of any functional loss dependent on the location, extent (severity) and type of injury (contusion vs.transection, incomplete vs. complete). All published studies using contusive SCI (apart from [62]) have reported neuronal, glial and astrocytic marker expression within or near the lesion after transplantation, with two groups reporting differentiation of donor cells into at least one or all these various cell types [37,50,58,59,60,61,62,63].
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