Cells (Sep 2022)

Transplantation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neural Progenitor Cells Promotes Forelimb Functional Recovery after Cervical Spinal Cord Injury

  • Yiyan Zheng,
  • Chrystine M. Gallegos,
  • Haipeng Xue,
  • Shenglan Li,
  • Dong H. Kim,
  • Hongxia Zhou,
  • Xugang Xia,
  • Ying Liu,
  • Qilin Cao

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11172765
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 17
p. 2765

Abstract

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Locomotor function after spinal cord injury (SCI) is critical for assessing recovery. Currently, available means to improve locomotor function include surgery, physical therapy rehabilitation and exoskeleton. Stem cell therapy with neural progenitor cells (NPCs) transplantation is a promising reparative strategy. Along this line, patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are a remarkable autologous cell source, which offer many advantages including: great potential to generate isografts avoiding immunosuppression; the availability of a variety of somatic cells without ethical controversy related to embryo use; and vast differentiation. In this current work, to realize the therapeutic potential of iPSC-NPCs for the treatment of SCI, we transplanted purified iPSCs-derived NPCs into a cervical contusion SCI rat model. Our results showed that the iPSC-NPCs were able to survive and differentiate into both neurons and astrocytes and, importantly, improve forelimb locomotor function as assessed by the grooming task and horizontal ladder test. Purified iPSC-NPCs represent a promising cell type that could be further tested and developed into a clinically useful cell source for targeted cell therapy for cervical SCI patients.

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