Incorporating Combinatorial Approaches to Encourage Targeted Neural Stem/Progenitor Cell Integration Following Transplantation in Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) severely diminishes quality of life and presents patients with a substantial financial burden. The lack of a curative treat-ment 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. We suggest using combinatorial approaches incorporating neural stem/progenitor cell transplantation with molecular guidance cues, task-specific rehabilitation, galvanotaxis, or magnet-based tools to optimize integration in the appropriate circuits.

• 1
  Integration is an important challenge related to neural stem/progenitor cell transplantation.
• 2
  Molecular guidance cues, task-specific rehabilitation, galvanotaxis, and magnet-based techniques may improve graft-host interactions by directing NSPC migration
• 3
  Optimal NSPC integration is contingent upon the ability of the NSPCs to differentiate into the appropriate mature cell types that match the circuit of interest.