Novel stem cell technology leads to better spinal cord repair

Source: University of Rochester Medical Center
Posted: April 27, 2006

Scientists showed that rats that received a transplant of a specific type of immature support cell from the central nervous system (generated from stem cells) had more than 60 percent of their sensory nerve fibers regenerate. Equally signficant, the study showed that more than two-thirds of the nerve fibers grew all the way through the injury sites eight days later, a result that is much more promising than previous research. The rats that received the cell transplants also walked normally in two weeks.

Commentary: Hopefully this approach can be translated into treatments for humans with spinal cord injuries.