Construction of a niche-specific spinal white matter-like tissue to promote directional axon regeneration and myelination for rat spinal cord injury repair

This study introduces a new method for repairing spinal cord injuries by creating a white matter-like tissue (WMLT) that mimics the natural environment of the spinal cord. The WMLT is made using a scaffold derived from decellularized optic nerves (DON) and loaded with oligodendrocyte precursor cells that overproduce neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), a growth factor. The WMLT helps to guide the regeneration of nerve fibers and promote myelination, which is crucial for nerve function. The WMLT transplants integrated well with host spinal cord white matter.

• 1
  The white matter-like tissue (WMLT) transplantation group showed significant improvement in coordinated motor functions compared with the control groups.
• 2
  WMLT transplants integrated well with host spinal cord white matter, effectively addressing several barriers to directional axonal regeneration and myelination during SCI repair.
• 3
  In WMLT, laminin was found to promote development of oligodendroglial lineage (OL) cells by binding to laminin receptors and guide linear axon regeneration.