Cell therapy in spinal cord injury: a mini- reivew

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a debilitating disease which leads to progressive functional damages. Because of limited axonal regeneration in the central nervous system, there is no or little recovery expected in the patients. Different cellular and molecular approaches were investigated in SCI animal models. Cellular transplantation of stem cells can potentially replace damaged tissue and provide a suitable microenvironment for axons to regenerate. Here, we reviewed the last approaches applied by our colleagues and others in order to improve axonal regeneration following SCI. We used different types of stem cells via different methods. First, fetal olfactory mucosa, schwann, and bone marrow stromal cells were transplanted into the injury sites in SCI models. In later studies, was applied simultaneous transplantation of stem cells with chondroitinase ABC in SCI models with the aid of nanoparticles. Using these approaches, considerable functional recovery was observed. However, considering some challenges in stem cell therapy such as rejection, infection, and development of a new cancer, our more recent strategy was application of cytokines. We observed a significant improvement in motor function of rats when stromal derived factor-1 was used to attract innate stem cells to the injury site. In conclusion, it seems that co-transplantation of different cells accompanies with other factors like enzymes and growth factors via new delivery systems may yield better results in SCI.