The highly debilitating nature of spinal cord injuries has provided much inspiration for the design of novel biomaterials that can stimulate cellular regeneration and functional recovery. Many experts agree that the greatest hope for treatment of spinal cord injuries will involve a combinatorial approach that integrates biomaterial scaffolds, cell transplantation, and molecule delivery. This ma...

background: the failure of regeneration after spinal cord injury (sci) has been attributed to axonal demyelination and neuronal death. cellular replacement and white matter regeneration are both necessary for sci repair. in this study, we evaluated the co-transplantation of olfactory ensheathing cells (oec) and embryonic stem (es) cell-derived motor neurons (esmn) on contused sci. methods: oec ...

Background: The failure of regeneration after spinal cord injury (SCI) has been attributed to axonal demyelination and neuronal death. Cellular replacement and white matter regeneration are both necessary for SCI repair. In this study, we evaluated the co-transplantation of olfactory ensheathing cells (OEC) and embryonic stem (ES) cell-derived motor neurons (ESMN) on contused SCI. Methods: OEC...

Spinal cord injuries devastate the lives of those affected. Normally, acute injury leads to chronic injury in the spinal cord, although this has a variable impact on normal sensory and motor functions. Currently the only drug used to treat acute spinal cord injury is methyl-prednisolone, administered in order to prevent secondary inflammatory neural damage. Thus, it is time that alternative and...

The lumbar spinal cords of lizards were transected, but after the initial paralysis most lizards recovered un-coordinated movements of hind limbs. At 25-45 days post-lesion about 50% of lizards were capable of walking with a limited coordination. Histological analysis showed that the spinal cord was transected and the ependyma of the central canal formed two enlargements to seal the proximal an...

Current knowledge of the epidemiology and pathophysiology of neurotrauma and the key clinical and experimental strategies for promoting recovery and regeneration after brain and spinal cord trauma are reviewed. Brief overviews of the epidemiology and pathophysiology of neurotrauma are presented, and the key experimental and clinical treatments for the promotion of recovery and regeneration afte...

Delivery of neurotrophic factors to the injured spinal cord has been shown to stimulate neuronal survival and regeneration. This indicates that a lack of sufficient trophic support is one factor contributing to the absence of spontaneous regeneration in the mammalian spinal cord. Regulation of the expression of neurotrophic factors and receptors after spinal cord injury has not been studied in ...

Monoaminergic innervation of the spinal cord has important modulatory functions for locomotion. Here we performed a quantitative study to determine the plastic changes of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive (TH1(+); mainly dopaminergic), and serotonergic (5-HT(+)) terminals and cells during successful spinal cord regeneration in adult zebrafish. TH1(+) innervation in the spinal cord is derived from t...

spinal cord injury (sci) is a destructive condition that the cord can't send signals below the level of the injury. despite advances in the medical and surgical care of sci patients, no effective treatment exists for the neurological deficits of sci. cell therapy is a new approach for sci, and preclinical models demonstrate that cell transplantation can improve some secondary events throug...