Regenerative medicine for spinal cord injury: focus on stem cells and biomaterials

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a dramatic medical pathology consequence of a trauma (primary injury). However, most of the post-traumatic degeneration of the tissue is caused by the so-called secondary injury, which is known to be a multifactorial process. This, indeed, includes a wide spectrum of events: blood-brain barrier dysfunction, local inflammation, neuronal death, demyelination and disconnection of nerve pathways.

Areas covered

Cell therapy represents a promising cure to target diseases and disorders at the cellular level, by restoring cell population or using cells as carriers of therapeutic cargo. In particular, regenerative medicine with stem cells represents the most appealing category to be used, thanks to their peculiar features.

Expert opinion

Many preclinical research studies demonstrated that cell treatment can improve animal sensory/motor functions and so demonstrated to be very promising for clinical trials. In particular, recent advances have led to the development of biomaterials aiming to promote in situ cell delivery. This review digs into this topic discussing the possibility of cell treatment to improve medical chances in SCI repair.

KEYWORDS:

• Hydrogels
• stem cells
• regenerative medicine
• spinal cord injury

Article highlights

• Between central nervous system diseases spinal cord injury represents one of the most devasting conditions with consequent high social and economic impact;

• The ability of stem cells to secrete and release beneficial factors is considered one of the most encouraging strategies in SCI treatment;

• Different types of stem cells (embryonic, neural, induced pluripotent, olfactory ensheathing and Schwann cells) are extremely promising for SCI repair;

• The use of polymeric scaffolds, able to localize therapies, together with stem cells can maximize the efficacy of cell treatment.

This box summarizes key points contained in the article.

Acknowledgments

Authors would like to thank Mrs Chiara Pasqualini (Lugano, Switzerland) for fruitful discussion.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial relationships or otherwise to disclose.