Abstract:

BACKGROUND: The development of neurobiology and stem cell technique increases the number of spinal nerves, reduces glial scar and forms cavities by cell transplantation.
OBJECTIVE: To review the identification and characteristics of neural stem cells (NSCs), the possible mechanism, clinical study and clinical application of NSCs for repairing spinal cord injury.
METHODS: The key words were “neural stem cells, transplant, spinal cord injury”. The first author retrieved PubMed database and Wanfang database for articles of the identification and characteristics of NSCs, the possible mechanism, clinical study and clinical application of NSCs for repairing spinal cord injury published from 1997 to 2010. Articles published earlier, repetitive ones and similar studies were excluded. A total of 29 articles accorded with inclusion criteria were included for this review.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: NSCs have the ability to differentiate into neurons, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and can replace the damaged neural cells. The articles discussed the identification and characteristics of NSCs, the possible mechanism, clinical study and clinical application of NSCs for repairing spinal cord injury. Some problems should be solved in the future study, including long-term survival and phenotypic stability of stem cells-derived neurons or glial cells following transplantation, whether a few embryonic stem cells of escape differentiation and selective program will amplify in the transplant site and form tumors.