Adult-derived pluripotent stem cells.
The global incidence of spinal cord injury (SCI) is 15-40 cases per million people, with the socioeconomic and healthcare costs amounting to nearly $10 billion per annum in the USA alone. Despite substantial advances in medical care and surgical technology, many patients with SCI still experience significant long-term neurologic disability. Cellular transplantation offers a promising therapy to address the multifactorial nature of SCI in both the subacute and chronic phase of the injury to promote central nervous system repair and regeneration and to augment existing therapies. Adult-derived stem cells are the least ethically challenging stem cells but, until recently, a major hurdle has been inducing pluripotency to generate the required neural lineages. Improved generation and transfection techniques, combined with positive experimental outcomes in SCI models, suggest that adult-derived induced pluripotent stem cells could be a genuine alternative to embryonic stem cells for clinical treatments. For translation from bench to bedside, the efficacy of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural stem and progenitor cells in suitable SCI models needs to be validated further and backed up with rigorous early-stage clinical trials.
Division of Genetics and Development, Toronto Western Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Stuart D
SD
Faulkner
Division of Genetics and Development, Toronto Western Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Reaz
R
Vawda
Division of Genetics and Development, Toronto Western Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Division of Neurosurgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Spinal Program, University Health Network, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address: michael.fehlings@uhn.on.ca.
Michael G
MG
Fehlings
D000328:Adult; D053687:Adult Stem Cells / Q000637:transplantation*; D006801:Humans; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000637:transplantation*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000628:therapy*; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*
Adult-derived neural stem cells; Cell transplantation; Clinical trial; Induced pluripotent stem cells; Spinal cord injury