Transplantation of neurotrophin-3-transfected bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells for the repair of spinal cord injury

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation can help repair spinal cord injuries, but many of these cells don't survive after being transplanted. To increase the survival rate, scientists genetically modified these cells to produce neurotrophin-3 (NT-3). NT-3 is a protein that helps nerve cells survive. The experiment showed that more of the modified cells survived in the injured spinal cord compared to unmodified cells. This suggests that using NT-3 to help bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells survive could improve the repair of spinal cord injuries.

• 1
  NT-3 transfection increased the number of BMSCs transplanted into injured spinal cord.
• 2
  The NT-3 + BMSCs group had a greater number of BMSCs in the injured spinal cord compared with the spinal cord injury and BMSCs groups
• 3
  NT-3 transfection decreased apoptosis of motor neurons in anterior horn spinal cord