Article
Cell & Tissue Engineering
Weiwei Xue, Caixia Fan, Bing Chen, Yannan Zhao, Zhifeng Xiao, Jianwu Dai
Summary: Transplantation of neural stem cells shows promise for restoring communication in spinal cord injury, but the inhibitory microenvironment often leads to glial differentiation rather than neuronal differentiation. Functional biomaterials can mitigate the adverse effects of the SCI microenvironment and promote neuronal differentiation of NSCs.
Review
Cell Biology
Serena Silvestro, Emanuela Mazzon
Summary: Spinal cord injury is a devastating injury to the central nervous system, and current therapies have not been successful. MiRNA plays a crucial role in CNS development and pathological processes after neural injury, making it a promising candidate for SCI therapy.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Xiaoyun Liu, Mingming Hao, Zhongjin Chen, Ting Zhang, Jie Huang, Jianwu Dai, Zhijun Zhang
Summary: 3D bioprinting has been used to fabricate NSC-laden scaffolds for in vivo SCI repair, utilizing a novel bioink with fast gelation and high NSC viability. This method promotes axon regeneration and reduces glial scar deposition, leading to significant locomotor recovery in SCI model rats. It represents a versatile strategy for precise engineering of the central nervous system and other neural tissues for regenerative medicine applications.
Review
Cell Biology
Emily A. B. Gilbert, Nishanth Lakshman, Kylie S. K. Lau, Cindi M. Morshead
Summary: Spinal cord injury affects millions of people worldwide, and there is currently no cure. Utilizing endogenous neural stem cells (NSCs) to replace lost cells and promote structural repair is a promising approach. However, there are still many unanswered questions regarding the heterogeneity of NSCs, their interaction with the environment, and factors that enhance their response.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Xiaoyun Liu, Shaoshuai Song, Zhongjin Chen, Chen Gao, Yuxuan Li, Yu Luo, Jie Huang, Zhijun Zhang
Summary: Efficient neuronal differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) is crucial for spinal cord injury (SCI) repair. In this study, a bioprinted scaffold loaded with NSCs and OSMI-4 was developed to induce and guide neuronal differentiation, leading to efficient SCI repair. The scaffolds mimicked the spinal cord structure, providing a dynamic matrix and sustained release of OSMI-4 for NSCs interaction and differentiation.
ACTA BIOMATERIALIA
(2022)
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Hengyi Wang, Yuanliang Xia, Baoqin Li, Yuehong Li, Changfeng Fu
Summary: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a severe and traumatic disorder that leads to the loss of motor, sensory, and autonomic nervous function. The persistence of local immune inflammatory response after SCI poses challenges to its repair. Immune remodeling significantly affects stem cell survival and differentiation after transplantation and the prognosis of SCI. Immunological reconstruction strategies based on biomaterials have shown promising results and offer potential for clinical application.
FRONTIERS IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Yifan Wang, Tengfei Zhao, Yiren Jiao, Hanxu Huang, Yongxiang Zhang, Ao Fang, Xuhua Wang, Yanling Zhou, Haochen Gu, Qionghua Wu, Jiang Chang, Fangcai Li, Kan Xu
Summary: This study investigates the effect of Laponite nanoplatelets on stem cell therapy. The results show that Laponite nanoplatelets can induce the neuronal differentiation of neural stem cells within five days in vitro, and the NF-kappa B pathway is involved in this process. Moreover, Laponite nanoplatelets can increase the survival rate of transplanted neural stem cells and promote their differentiation into mature neurons. The formation of connections between transplanted cells and host cells is confirmed by axon tracing. Therefore, Laponite nanoplatelets can be considered a convenient and practical biomaterial to enhance the efficacy of neural stem cell transplantation and promote repair of the injured spinal cord.
ADVANCED HEALTHCARE MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Jian-An Li, Ming-Peng Shi, Lin Cong, Ming-Yu Gu, Yi-Heng Chen, Si-Yi Wang, Zhen-Hua Li, Chun-Fang Zan, Wan-Fu Wei
Summary: Exosome-derived long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in the recovery and repair of injured spinal cord, but there is a lack of systematic evaluation of differentially expressed lncRNAs in the development of spinal cord injury. This study aimed to identify key circulating exosome-derived lncRNAs in a rat model of spinal cord injury and investigate their potential actions.
NEURAL REGENERATION RESEARCH
(2023)
Review
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Chun Yao, Xin Tang, Yuqi Cao, Xuhua Wang, Bin Yu
Summary: Spinal cord injury is a devastating event that disrupts the neuronal circuits between the brain and body, resulting in functional deficits. Recent progress in SCI repair, based on the lesion microenvironment, neural circuits, and biomaterial scaffolds, has provided new insights for potential therapeutic treatments. The use of targeted-microRNA therapy, blood vessel interventions, and multiple treatment combinations are highlighted as important directions for future research.
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Taiki Katsuyama, Minori Kadoya, Manabu Shirai, Noriaki Sasai
Summary: Sox14 transcription factor plays a crucial role in promoting neuronal differentiation in the chick neural tube, acting as a modulator of cell proliferation. Its expression is initially in the progenitor regions before becoming confined to the V2a region, where it is involved in regulating the differentiation of neurons. Overexpression of Sox14 restricts progenitor cell proliferation, while blocking its expression inhibits neuronal differentiation in the V2a region.
DEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS
(2022)
Article
Cell & Tissue Engineering
Weiwei Xue, Haipeng Zhang, Yongheng Fan, Zhifeng Xiao, Yannan Zhao, Weiyuan Liu, Bai Xu, Yanyun Yin, Bing Chen, Jiayin Li, Yi Cui, Ya Shi, Jianwu Dai
Summary: The study showed that Epothilone D promoted the neuronal differentiation of NSCs and facilitated neuronal relay formation at the injury site. RNA sequencing revealed that Apol8 was upregulated during this process, indicating its role in promoting neuronal differentiation. Transplantation of Apol8-NSCs with LOCS improved motor function in mice with complete spinal cord transection, suggesting a promising therapeutic target for SCI repair.
STEM CELL RESEARCH & THERAPY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Chun Cui, Lin-Fang Wang, Shu-Bing Huang, Peng Zhao, Yong-Quan Chen, Yi-Bo Wu, Chen-Meng Qiao, Wei-Jiang Zhao, Yan-Qin Shen
Summary: The study found that the expression of NPY decreased in adult zebrafish spinal cord after injury, and inhibiting NPY expression impeded descend axon regeneration and locomotor recovery. This suggests that NPY in motoneurons may promote recovery by regulating motoneuron proliferation through activation of NPY1R.
EXPERIMENTAL NEUROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Min Hao, Dapeng Zhang, Wenhan Wang, Zhijian Wei, Jiazhi Duan, Jianlong He, Xiaohong Kong, Yuanhua Sang, Shiqing Feng, Hong Liu
Summary: A new therapy method using injectable HAp thermosensitive nanohydrogel for storage, release, and fate regulation of neural stem cells (NSCs) in spinal cord injury (SCI) treatment was proposed. The experiment demonstrated that this method achieved promising therapeutic effects in a mouse model.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Zhiyuan Wang, Shuaijun Jia, Hailiang Xu, Xiaohui Wang, Botao Lu, Weidong Wu, Dageng Huang, Lingbo Kong, Xin Kang, Fang Tian, Lei Zhu, Dingjun Hao
Summary: In this study, the researchers developed a novel method to enhance the differentiation of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) into neurons. They coated aligned fibers with a self-assembled peptide, which improved the efficiency of SSC neuronal differentiation. The induced neurons derived from SSCs were able to form new relay circuits, myelinate, and establish synapses when implanted into spinal cord injury lesion sites. These SSC-derived neurons were able to survive and function in the spinal cord injury microenvironment, promoting locomotion recovery.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Caixia Fan, Wen Yang, Lulu Zhang, Hui Cai, Yan Zhuang, Yanyan Chen, Yannan Zhao, Jianwu Dai
Summary: Spinal cord injury is a severe damage to the central nervous system, often leading to the loss of spinal cord structure and function. Researchers have developed a new hydrogel material with mechanical and electrical properties similar to the spinal cord, which can be used for spinal cord regeneration. By introducing glutathione and MMP-responsive proteins into the hydrogel, biomolecules can be released in response to the microenvironment of spinal cord injury, promoting axon regeneration and angiogenesis, and improving motor function recovery.