Human Embryonic Stem Cell–derived Neural Crest Cells Promote Sprouting and Motor Recovery Following Spinal Cord Injury in Adult Rats

• Published in: Cell transplantation Vol. 30; p. 963689720988245
• Main Authors: Jones, Iwan, Novikova, Liudmila N., Wiberg, Mikael, Carlsson, Leif, Novikov, Lev N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 2021; Sage Publications Ltd; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Animals; Axonogenesis; Biological activity; Cell Differentiation; Dorsal root ganglia; Female; hESCs; Human Embryonic Stem Cells - metabolism; Humans; motor recovery; Neural crest; Neural Crest - metabolism; neural crest cells; Neural stem cells; Original; Quality of life; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Recovery of Function - physiology; Sensorimotor system; Spinal cord injuries; Spinal Cord Injuries - pathology; Spinal Cord Injuries - therapy; spinal cord injury; Stem cells; Transplantation; Trophic factors; vertical cylinder test; spinal cord injury; vertical cylinder test; neural crest cells; hESCs; transplantation; motor recovery
• ISSN: 0963-6897; 1555-3892; 1555-3892
• DOI: 10.1177/0963689720988245

Spinal cord injury results in irreversible tissue damage and permanent sensorimotor impairment. The development of novel therapeutic strategies that improve the life quality of affected individuals is therefore of paramount importance. Cell transplantation is a promising approach for spinal cord injury treatment and the present study assesses the efficacy of human embryonic stem cell–derived neural crest cells as preclinical cell-based therapy candidates. The differentiated neural crest cells exhibited characteristic molecular signatures and produced a range of biologically active trophic factors that stimulated in vitro neurite outgrowth of rat primary dorsal root ganglia neurons. Transplantation of the neural crest cells into both acute and chronic rat cervical spinal cord injury models promoted remodeling of descending raphespinal projections and contributed to the partial recovery of forelimb motor function. The results achieved in this proof-of-concept study demonstrates that human embryonic stem cell–derived neural crest cells warrant further investigation as cell-based therapy candidates for the treatment of spinal cord injury.