CREB1 Facilitates GABAergic Neural Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells through BRN2 for Pain Alleviation and Locomotion Recovery after Spinal Cord Injury

This research investigates how human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) can be transformed into a specific type of nerve cell, GABAergic neurons, to treat spinal cord injuries. The study focuses on a protein called CREB1 and its role in this transformation process. CREB1 was found to help hMSCs become GABAergic neurons, which can alleviate nerve pain and improve motor function after spinal cord injury. The researchers modified hMSCs to produce more CREB1, which led to the cells developing into GABAergic neurons. When these modified hMSCs were injected into mice with spinal cord injuries, the mice showed signs of pain relief and improved movement. This suggests that using CREB1 to create GABAergic neurons from hMSCs could be a promising treatment for spinal cord injuries.

• 1
  CREB1 overexpression in hMSCs induces differentiation into GABAergic neuron cells with upregulation of Map2 and GAD1.
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  Transfected hMSCs injected into immunocompromised mice exhibited neuronal markers Tuj1 and Map2, suggesting improved survival and neural differentiation.
• 3
  SCI mice treated with transfected hMSCs showed improvement in both BMS scores and thermal hyperalgesia latency at 4 weeks post-transplantation.