Human induced neural stem cells support functional recovery in spinal cord injury models

Spinal cord injuries often lead to lasting sensory, motor, and autonomic disabilities. Currently, there's no standard medical treatment to reverse this damage. This study explores using induced neural stem cells (iNSCs) made from human urine cells to help spinal cord injury recovery in rats. The findings suggest that iNSCs could be a valuable tool for disease modeling and a potential source of personalized cells for nerve regeneration in spinal cord disorders.

• 1
  iNSCs derived from human urine cells can survive, engraft, and differentiate into neurons and glial cells when transplanted into injured spinal cords of rats.
• 2
  Transplanted iNSCs led to the extension of axons over long distances, creating connections between the host and graft neurons.
• 3
  Significant improvements in locomotor function were observed in the rat models of spinal cord injury after iNSC transplantation.