TY - JOUR
T1 - Repairing the damaged spinal cord
T2 - A summary of our early success with embryonic stem cell transplantation and remyelination
AU - McDonald, John W.
AU - Howard, Michael J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NS01931, NS37927, NS 40520), the National Football League Charities, the W.M. Keck Foundation, and the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation. We would also like to acknowledge the support and invaluable contributions of the other members of the ES cell Program Project Grant Team: Dennis W. Choi, MD, PhD, Primary Investigator; David I. Gottlieb, PhD; David H. Gutmann, MD, PhD; Chung Y. Hsu, MD, PhD; Mark E Jacquin, PhD; and Eugene M. Johnson, Jr., PhD.
PY - 2002
Y1 - 2002
N2 - Demyelination contributes to the loss of function consequent to central nervous system (CNS) injury. Optimizing remyelination through transplantation of myelin-producing cells may offer a pragmatic approach to restoring meaningful neurological function. An unlimited source of cells suitable for such transplantation therapy can be derived from embryonic stem (ES) cells, which are both pluripotent and genetically flexible. Here we review work from our group showing that neural precursor cells can be derived from ES cells and that transplantation of these cells into the injured spinal cord leads to some recovery of function. We have further examined and optimized methods for enriching oligodendrocyte differentiation from ES cells. ES cell-derived oligodendrocytes are capable of rapid differentiation and myelination in mixed neuron/glia cultures. When transplanted into the injured spinal cord of adult rodents, the neural-induced precursor cells are capable of differentiating into oligodendrocytes and myelinating host axons. The role of myelination and remyelination will be discussed in the context of regeneration strategies.
AB - Demyelination contributes to the loss of function consequent to central nervous system (CNS) injury. Optimizing remyelination through transplantation of myelin-producing cells may offer a pragmatic approach to restoring meaningful neurological function. An unlimited source of cells suitable for such transplantation therapy can be derived from embryonic stem (ES) cells, which are both pluripotent and genetically flexible. Here we review work from our group showing that neural precursor cells can be derived from ES cells and that transplantation of these cells into the injured spinal cord leads to some recovery of function. We have further examined and optimized methods for enriching oligodendrocyte differentiation from ES cells. ES cell-derived oligodendrocytes are capable of rapid differentiation and myelination in mixed neuron/glia cultures. When transplanted into the injured spinal cord of adult rodents, the neural-induced precursor cells are capable of differentiating into oligodendrocytes and myelinating host axons. The role of myelination and remyelination will be discussed in the context of regeneration strategies.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0036454328&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0036454328&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/S0079-6123(02)37023-7
DO - 10.1016/S0079-6123(02)37023-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 12449097
AN - SCOPUS:0036454328
VL - 137
SP - 299
EP - 309
JO - Progress in Brain Research
JF - Progress in Brain Research
SN - 0079-6123
ER -