Application of stem cells, tissue engineering scaffolds and neurotrophic factors in the treatment of spinal cord injury / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Stem cells have multi-directional differentiation potential. Tissue engineering scaffolds can provide support for them. Neurotrophic factors can promote the differentiation of stem cells. The combination of the three therapies to promote the functional recovery of spinal cord injury is one of the current research hotspots. OBJECTIVE: To review the research progress of stem cells, tissue engineering scaffolds, neurotrophic factors and their combined transplantation in the treatment of spinal cord injury in recent years. METHODS: The authors searched PubMed, ScienceDirect, Medline, and CNKI for original articles from January 2000 to October 2019. The key words were “spinal cord injury, mesenchymal stem cells, issue engineering, neurotrophic factor” in English and Chinese, respectively. Totally 712 studies were retrieved. After strict screening, 79 studies that met the requirements were classified and reviewed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Stem cell transplantation alone cannot reconstruct the complex structure and stability of the spinal cord. Biological materials or neurotrophic factors alone cannot replace the loss of neurons during spinal cord injury. Therefore, combined transplantation is the research direction of spinal cord injury treatment. However, due to the differences in the location of spinal cord injury, the tissue of injury and the nutritional requirements of its repair, the characteristics of various stem cells, tissue engineering scaffolds and neurotrophic factors are different. How to optimize the combination of the three is still a huge challenge.