Abstract
The benefits of transplanting cultured Schwann cells (SCs) for the treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI) have been systematically investigated in experimental animals since the early 1990s. Importantly, human SC (hSC) transplantation for SCI has advanced to clinical testing and safety has been established via clinical trials conducted in the USA and abroad. However, multiple barriers must be overcome to enable accessible and effective treatments for SCI patients. This review presents available information on hSC transplantation for SCI with the intention to uncover gaps in our knowledge and discuss areas for future development. To this end, we introduce the historical progression of the work that supports existing and prospective clinical initiatives and explain the reasons for the choice of hSCs while also addressing their limitations as cell therapy products. A search of the relevant literature revealed that rat SCs have served as a preclinical model of reference since the onset of investigations, and that hSC transplants are relatively understudied, possibly due to the sophisticated resources and expertise needed for the traditional processing of hSC cultures from human nerves. In turn, we reason that additional experimentation and a reexamination of the available data are needed to understand the therapeutic value of hSC transplants taking into consideration that the manufacturing of the hSCs themselves may require further development for extended uses in basic research and clinical settings.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 690894 |
| Journal | Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience |
| Volume | 15 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 18 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© Copyright © 2021 Monje, Deng and Xu.
Funding
This work was supported by the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation (grant 339576 to PM) and the Indiana Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Fund from the Indiana State Department of Health (grants 33997 and 43547 to PM and X-MX). X-MX received support from NIH R01 100531, R01 NS103481, R01 NS111776, and Merit Review Awards I01 BX002356, I01 BX003705, I01 RX002687 from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The contents of this article are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Institutes of Health (NIH) | I01 RX002687, I01 BX002356, R01 NS103481, I01 BX003705, R01 100531, R01 NS111776 |
| U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs | |
| Craig H. Neilsen Foundation | 339576 |
| Indiana State Department of Health | 33997, 43547 |
Keywords
- Schwann cells
- biotherapeutic products
- cell therapy
- clinical trials
- functional recovery
- myelination
- regeneration
- spinal cord injury
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
