Research Alert

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition with complex pathological mechanisms that lead to sensory, motor, and autonomic dysfunction below the site of injury. To date, no effective therapy is available for the treatment of SCI. Recently, bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) have been considered to be the most promising source for cellular therapies following SCI. The objective of the present review is to summarize the most recent insights into the cellular and molecular mechanism using BMMSC therapy to treat SCI. In this work, we review the specific mechanism of BMMSCs in SCI repair mainly from the following aspects: Neuroprotection, axon sprouting and/or regeneration, myelin regeneration, inhibitory microenvironments, glial scar formation, immunomodulation, and angiogenesis. Additionally, we summarize the latest evidence on the application of BMMSCs in clinical trials and further discuss the challenges and future directions for stem cell therapy in SCI models.

Key Words: Spinal cord injury, Bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells, Neuroprotection, Axon, Myelin, Inhibitory microenvironment

Core Tip: In this work, we review the specific mechanism of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell (BMMSC) in spinal cord injury (SCI) repair mainly from the following aspects: Neuroprotection, neuronal circuit, axon sprouting and or regeneration, myelin regeneration, inhibitory microenvironment, glial scar formation, immunomodulation, and angiogenesis. Additionally, we also summarize the latest evidence on application of BMMSC in clinical trials and further discuss the challenges and future directions for stem cell therapy in SCI models.



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