Transplantation of Undifferentiated and Induced Human Exfoliated Deciduous Teeth-derived Stem Cells Promote Functional Recovery of Rat Spinal Cord Contusion Injury Model.

Regarding both the neural crest origin and neuronal potential of stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED), here, we assessed their potential in addition to neural induced SHED (iSHED) for functional recovery when transplanted in a rat model for acute contused spinal cord injury (SCI). Following transplantation, a significant functional recovery was observed in both groups relative to the vehicle and control groups as determined by the BBB functional test. We also observed that animals who received iSHED were in a better state in contrast to the SHED group. Immunohistofluorescence evaluation five weeks after transplantation showed neuronal and glial differentiation and limited proliferation in both groups. However, MBP and NG2, oligodendrocyte markers were increased and GFAP, astrocyte marker was decreased in the iSHED group in comparison with the SHED group. These findings have demonstrated that transplantation of SHED or its derivatives could be a suitable candidate for the treatment of SCI as well as other neuronal degenerative diseases