Spinal cord injury Schwann cells

Today, with the exception of bone marrow for hematopoietic reconstitution, therapeutic cellular transplantation is an emerging technology. In recent years novel approaches in the potential restoration of function through cellular transplantation have included the use of fetal human or xenogeneic neural tissue for Parkinson s disease, ectopically implanted pancreatic islets for diabetes, Schwann cells and olfactory ensheathing glia for spinal cord injury, encapsulated chromaffin cells for pain, and various types of stem cells for the treatment of diabetes, cardiac disease, and central nervous system injuries or disease [2], There have also been trials of encapsulated cells to provide enzymes that either remove toxic products or provide activation of prodrugs to therapeutics, usually anticancer derivatives. 

Chi, GF, Kim, M-r, Kim, D-W, Jiang, MH, and Son, Y. 2010. Schwann cells differentiated from spheroidforming cells of rat subcutaneous fat tissue myelinate axons in the spinal cord injury. Exp Neurol 222(2) 304-317. 

Lavdas, A A, Chen, J, Papastefanaki, F et al. 2010. Schwann cells engineered to express the cell adhesion molecule Ll accelerate myelination and motor recovery after spinal cord injury. Exp Neurol 221(1) 206-216. 

Biernaskie, J., Sparling, J.S., Liu, J., Shannon, C.P., Plemel, J.R., Xie, Y., Miller, F.D., and Tetzlaff, W. 2007. Skin-derived precursors generate myelinating Schwann cells that promote remyelination and functional recovery after contusion spinal cord injury. J Neurosci 27(36) 9545-9559. 

Neuroglia include (1) ependymal cells lining the ventricles of the brain and the central canal of the spinal cord, (2) cells of the PNS (Schwann cell) and CNS (oligodendrocyte) that wrap around axons to form compacted plasma membranes (myelin) that provide electrical insulation to speed nerve conduction, (3) cells (astrocytes) that interface between nerve cells and capillaries in the CNS, regulate interstitial water content, concentration, remove and metabolize certain NT molecules, and proliferate following injury. 

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