Journal of Tissue Science and Engineering

The Application of Stem Cell Based Tissue Engineering in Spinal Cord Injury Repair.

Abstract

Wanting Niu and Xiang Zeng

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) results in the permanent functional impairment, leading to monoplegia, paraplegia or tetraplegia with tremendous social and economic burden. The intrinsic repair mechanism has been proven to be insufficient. The complex pathophysiology after injury imposes enormous challenging to functional recovery, given the most advanced medical intervention nowadays. Therefore, the development of effective therapeutic strategy for spinal cord injury management is in great need. Here we review a stem cell based tissue engineering approach under preclinical or clinical development for spinal cord injury, with a focus on promoting functional recovery after SCI, aiming to provide some beneficial suggestion on stem cell based tissue engineering design.