Browse the latest research summaries in the field of biomedical for spinal cord injury patients and caregivers.
Showing 771-780 of 904 results
Stem Cells International, 2017 • December 3, 2017
This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of gellan gum (functionalized with a fibronectin peptide), collagen, and NVR-gel in supporting the viability, metabolic activity, and gene expression of adipo...
KEY FINDING: All hydrogels supported ASC survival and viability, with functionalized GG hydrogels showing the most evident support.
Scientific Reports, 2018 • January 22, 2018
The study evaluates the neurorestorative effects of an engineered HGF with a collagen binding domain (CBD-HGF) alone and in combination with gelatin-FA hydrogel for spinal cord injury (SCI) treatment ...
KEY FINDING: CBD-HGF has a higher binding affinity to spinal cord tissue and gelatin-FA hydrogel compared to unmodified HGF, allowing it to remain in the spinal cord longer.
Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, 2018 • January 11, 2018
This review assesses combinatorial strategies of biomaterial-supported cell transplantation to reconstruct lost host tissue physically, cellularly and chemically after SCI, to increase cell survival a...
KEY FINDING: Schwann cells, astrocytes, olfactory ensheathing cells, mesenchymal stem cells, and neural stem and progenitor cells have been used with biomaterial scaffolds to promote axonal regeneration.
Biomed Mater., 2018 • March 21, 2018
This study introduces a novel injectable scaffold derived from optimized acellular nerve scaffold (iOA) for minimally-invasive injection following contusion SCI. The iOA nerve hydrogel was characteriz...
KEY FINDING: The injectable optimized acellular (iOA) nerve graft retains native chemical cues such as collagens and glycosaminoglycans.
Biomaterials, 2018 • April 1, 2018
This work examines the effect of HA hydrogels containing ECM derived from different mESC-derived astrocyte populations on motoneuron growth in vitro and the effects of these astrocyte ECMs on histolog...
KEY FINDING: ECM harvested from protoplasmic astrocytes, but not fibrous astrocytes, reduced glial scar size, increased axon penetration, and reduced macrophage/microglia staining.
Theranostics, 2018 • February 4, 2018
This study investigates the hemocompatibility of human white adipose tissue (WAT), umbilical cord (UC), and bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) for safer cell transplantation. The study demonstrates that...
KEY FINDING: Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) exhibit significantly lower tissue factor (TF) expression compared to white adipose tissue (WAT) and umbilical cord (UC) stromal cells.
Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A, 2018 • April 25, 2018
This study evaluates the effectiveness of a neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) releasing scaffold in treating spinal cord injury (SCI) in canines. The scaffold was designed to inhibit inflammation, promote nerve f...
KEY FINDING: The NT-3/fibroin scaffold (NF-GS) significantly improved hindlimb locomotion in canines with spinal cord injury compared to a control group (F-GS).
Neural Regeneration Research, 2018 • March 1, 2018
This study investigated the efficacy of chitosan, sodium alginate, and composite chitosan-sodium alginate scaffolds in promoting spinal cord injury repair in rats with spinal cord hemisection. The res...
KEY FINDING: Chitosan scaffolds promoted the recovery of locomotor capacity and nerve transduction in experimental rats, as evidenced by Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan locomotor rating scale scores and electrophysiological results.
Biomed Mater., 2018 • June 4, 2018
This study examined how fiber surface nanotopography influenced astrocyte morphology, GFAP expression, and vinculin expression using electrospun fiber scaffolds with smooth, pitted, or divoted surface...
KEY FINDING: Cortical astrocytes were shorter and broader on pitted and divoted fibers compared to smooth fibers, while spinal cord astrocyte morphology was not significantly altered by the surface features.
Neural Regeneration Research, 2018 • April 1, 2018
Anisotropic biomaterials with channels offer advantages over isotropic materials for axon orientation and guidance after spinal cord injury. Combining biomaterials with cells and neurotrophin delivery...
KEY FINDING: Scaffolds with linear channels can physically guide axon growth across the lesion and reduce contact with the inhibitory microenvironment.