'Path opened' for spinal cord injury treatmentRSS Feed

Spinal cord injury patients have the hope of better treatment after scientists successfully restored mobility to mice with the condition.

Researchers from Japan, led by Keio University professor Hideyuki Okano and professor Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University, repaired the spinal cords of mice using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.

Professor Okano commented: "With strict evaluation of the safety of iPS cells, the path to using them in the future to treat spinal cord injuries has been opened."

The team placed iPS cells in the brains of mice and allowed these to grow for six months before turning them into neural stem cells. These were then transplanted into the affected spinal cord of the mice, which were able to recover the use of their back legs.

However, problems still remain with the use iSP cells, which can grow uncontrollably and create tumours.

This feature was picked up by a team at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, which noted that the iSP cells, or hiSPCs, lack a type of biological regulator that controls and limits cell growth.

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Posted by Mathew Dixon

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