Neural stem cell mediated recovery is enhanced by Chondroitinase ABC pretreatment in chronic cervical spinal cord injury.

Traumatic spinal cord injuries (SCIs) affect millions of people worldwide; the majority of whom are in the chronic phase of their injury. Unfortunately, most current treatments target the acute/subacute injury phase as the microenvironment of chronically injured cord consists of a well-established glial scar with inhibitory chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) which acts as a potent barrier to regeneration. It has been shown that CSPGs can be degraded in vivo by intrathecal Chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) to produce a more permissive environment for regeneration by endogenous cells or transplanted neural stem cells (NSCs) in the subacute phase of injury.

Effectiveness of Lactobacillus helveticus and Lactobacillus rhamnosus for the management of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea in healthy adults: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Broad-spectrum antibiotic use can disrupt the gastrointestinal microbiota resulting in diarrhoea. Probiotics may be beneficial in managing this type of diarrhoea. The aim of this 10-week randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel study was to investigate the effect of Lactobacillus helveticus R0052 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus R0011 supplementation on antibiotic-associated diarrhoea in healthy adults.

Transplantation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neural Stem Cells Mediate Functional Recovery Following Thoracic Spinal Cord Injury Through Remyelination of Axons.

Unlabelled: : Neural stem cells (NSCs) from embryonic or fetal/adult tissue sources have shown considerable promise in regenerative strategies for traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). However, there are limitations with their use related to the availability, immunogenicity, and uncertainty of the mechanisms involved. To address these issues, definitive NSCs derived from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells generated using a nonviral, piggyBac transposon approach, were investigated.

Transplantation of neural stem cells clonally derived from embryonic stem cells promotes recovery after murine spinal cord injury.

The pathology of spinal cord injury (SCI) makes it appropriate for cell-based therapies. Treatments using neural stem cells (NSCs) in animal models of SCI have shown positive outcomes, although uncertainty remains regarding the optimal cell source. Pluripotent cell sources such as embryonic stem cells (ESCs) provide a limitless supply of therapeutic cells.

The generation of definitive neural stem cells from PiggyBac transposon-induced pluripotent stem cells can be enhanced by induction of the NOTCH signaling pathway.

Cell-based therapies using neural stem cells (NSCs) have shown positive outcomes in various models of neurological injury and disease. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) address many problems associated with NSCs from various sources, including the immune response and cell availability. However, due to inherent differences between embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and iPSCs, detailed characterization of the iPS-derived NSCs will be required before translational experiments can be performed.

Generation of neural stem cells from embryonic stem cells using the default mechanism: in vitro and in vivo characterization.

Neural stem cell-based approaches to repair damaged white matter in the central nervous system have shown great promise; however, the optimal cell population to employ in these therapies remains undetermined. A default mechanism of neural induction may function during development, and in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) neural differentiation is elicited in the absence of any extrinsic signaling in minimal, serum-free culture conditions. The default mechanism can be used to derive clonal neurosphere-forming populations of neural stem cells that have been termed leukemia inhibitory factor-dependent primitive neural stem cells (pNSCs), which subsequently give rise to fibroblast growth factor 2-dependent definitive NSCs (dNSCs).

Are induced pluripotent stem cells the future of cell-based regenerative therapies for spinal cord injury?

Despite advances in medical and surgical care, current clinical therapies for spinal cord injury (SCI) are limited. During the last two decades, the search for new therapies has been revolutionized by the discovery of stem cells, inspiring scientists and clinicians to search for stem cell-based reparative approaches for many disorders, including neurotrauma. Cell-based therapies using embryonic and adult stem cells in animal models of these disorders have provided positive outcome results.