Oligodendrocytes are the myelinating cells of the central nervous system that facilitate efficient signal transduction. The loss of these cells and the associated myelin sheath can lead to profound functional deficits. Moreover, oligodendrocytes also play key roles in mediating glial-neuronal interactions, which further speaks to their importance in health and disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpinal cord injury (SCI) severely diminishes quality of life and presents patients with a substantial financial burden. The lack of a curative treatment has guided efforts toward identifying potential regenerative treatments. Neural stem/progenitor cell (NSPC) transplantation represents a promising strategy for the regeneration of the injured spinal cord due to the ability of these cells to replace neural cells lost post-injury.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExpert Opin Biol Ther
November 2021
Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) results from primary physical injury to the spinal cord, which initiates a secondary cascade of neural cell death. Current therapeutic approaches can attenuate the consequences of the primary and secondary events, but do not address the degenerative aspects of SCI. Transplantation of neural stem/progenitor cells (NPCs) for the replacement of the lost/damaged neural cells is suggested here as a regenerative approach that is complementary to current therapeutics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurobiol Dis
January 2021
Background/introduction: The neuroinflammatory response plays a major role in the secondary injury cascade after traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). To date, systemic anti-inflammatory medications such as methylprednisolone sodium succinate (MPSS) have shown promise in SCI. However, systemic immunosuppression can have detrimental side effects.
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