Nat Med, 2018 · DOI: 10.1038/nm.4502 · Published: May 1, 2018
Human spinal cord-derived neural progenitor cells were grafted into sites of cervical spinal cord injury in rhesus monkeys to test their restorative effects. The grafts survived for at least 9 months, expressed both neuronal and glial markers, and facilitated the regeneration of monkey axons into the grafts. Hundreds of thousands of human axons extended from the grafts into the monkey's white matter, forming synapses in the gray matter and leading to improved forelimb function after a few months.
The study provides preclinical evidence supporting the translation of human neural stem cell grafting to humans with spinal cord injury.
The findings suggest that neural stem cell grafting can reconstitute both a neuronal and glial milieu in the site of spinal cord injury, providing a potential therapeutic target.
The study demonstrates that neural stem cell therapy can circumvent the axon-growth-inhibitory nature of adult myelin, a major challenge in the regeneration field.