Olfactory Ensheathing Cells for Spinal Cord Injury: Sniffing Out the Issues

Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) are special glial cells that help olfactory receptor neurons extend axons and reach their targets, enabling the sense of smell. OECs are being tested in cell transplant therapies to repair central nervous system injuries, especially spinal cord injuries, because of their unique ability to support axon growth. The inconsistency of OEC therapy outcomes is due to variations in the cell populations used for transplantation, with some studies using purified cells and others using unpurified cells.

• 1
  Inconsistent outcomes in OEC transplantation studies may be due to the varied purity of cell preparations prior to transplantation.
• 2
  OM-OECs show longer proliferation duration in vitro, higher secretion levels of neurotrophic factors in vivo, as well as increased capacity for migration, cavity prevention, and axonal growth in spinal cord injury rat models.
• 3
  Current markers for OEC identification (GFAP, S100b, p75NTR) are not specific enough, as other cell types also express them, leading to difficulties in obtaining pure OEC cultures.