Spinal Cord Stem Cells Could Be Basis Of Nonsurgical Treatment For Spinal-cord Injuries

Coronal sections of injured adult spinal cord, anterior to posterior.
(Credit: Image / Konstantinos Meletis)

ScienceDaily (July 21, 2008) —

"A researcher at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory has pinpointed stem cells within the spinal cord that, if persuaded to differentiate into more healing cells and fewer scarring cells following an injury, may lead to a new, non-surgical treatment for debilitating spinal-cord injuries.

The work is by Konstantinos Meletis, a postdoctoral fellow at the Picower Institute, and colleagues at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Their results could lead to drugs that might restore some degree of mobility to the 30,000 people worldwide afflicted each year with spinal-cord injuries.

In a developing embryo, stem cells differentiate into all the specialized tissues of the body. In adults, stem cells act as a repair system, replenishing specialized cells, but also maintaining the normal turnover of regenerative organs such as blood, skin or intestinal tissues."

NOTE: To read the entire article click on the title above.