Stem cells and modified biomaterials in the for the treatment of spinal cord injury

Progress in experimental treatments of spinal cord injury (SCI) utilizing growth factors, stem cells and biomaterials has revealed the pathological mechanizms of the secondary processes and demonstrated the potential of combined therapy for future clinical treatment. The mobilization of bone marrow by the combined application of Flt3 ligand and G-CSF diminishes astrogliosis and increases axonal sprouting and thus leads to more pronounce spinal tissue sparing and neurological improvement when compared with single treatments. All types of stem cells used in this study significantly decreased the locomotor deficit after SCI. The most noticeable impact was observed in the NP-iPS treated group, especially due to their long term survival, interaction with host tissue, their impact on glial scarring and modulation of the immune response. MSCs, despite their short lifetime, decrease the immune response after SCI and modulate glial scar formation. The lowest effectivity on locomotor recovery after SCI was demonstrated by fetal spinal progenitors, which were not capable of sufficient integration into the host tissue, even though they showed long-term survival and differentiation. The methods used to prepare methacrylate based hydrogels have a significant impact on the adhesion, growth and survival of MSC..