Neural stem cell therapy aiming at better functional recovery after spinal cord injury

Injury to the spinal cord causes transection of axon fibers and neural cell death, resulting in disruption of the neural network and severe functional loss. Reconstruction of the damaged neural circuits was once considered to be hopeless as the adult mammalian central nervous system has very poor ability to regenerate. For this reason, there is currently no effective therapeutic treatment for spinal cord injury (SCI). However, with recent developments in stem cell research and cell culture technology, regenerative therapy using neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation has rapidly been developed, and this therapeutic strategy makes it possible to rebuild the destroyed neural circuits. In this review, we discuss the recent breakthroughs in NSC transplantation therapy for SCI. Developmental Dynamics 247:75–84, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Key Findings Transplantation of Neural stem cells (NSCs) promotes functional recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI). Neurons derived from transplanted NSCs contribute directly to the recovery by forming functional neuronal relay. Transplantation of NSCs from human iPSCs represents a promising approach for clinical treatment of SCI. Combination therapy is necessary to further improve therapeutic outcome of NSCs transplantation.