Current treatments after spinal cord injury: Cell engineering, tissue engineering, and combined therapies. Issue 1 (26th December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shen, Yingbo; Cao, Xinyue; Lu, Minhui; Gu, Hongcheng; Li, Minli; Posner, David A.
• Is Part Of: SMART MEDICINE. Volume 1:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2022-12-26
• Subjects: biomaterials -- drug delivery -- spinal cord injury -- stem cells -- tissue engineering
• DOI: 10.1002/SMMD.20220017
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2751-1871

Abstract

Abstract: Both traumatic and non‐traumatic spinal cord injuries (SCIs) can be categorized as damages done to our central nervous system (CNS). The patients' physical and mental health may suffer greatly because of traumatic SCI. With the widespread use of motor vehicles and increasingly aged population, the occurrence of SCI is more frequent than before, creating a considerable burden to global public health. The regeneration process of the spinal cord is hampered by a series of events that occur following SCI like edema, hemorrhage, formation of cystic cavities, and ischemia. An effective strategy for the treatment of SCI and functional recovery still has not been discovered; however, recent advances have been made in bioengineering fields that therapies based on cells, biomaterials, and biomolecules have proved effective in the repair of the spinal cord. In the light of worldwide importance of treatments for SCI, this article aims to provide a review of recent advances by first introducing the physiology, etiology, epidemiology, and mechanisms of SCI. We then put emphasis on the widely used clinical treatments and bioengineering strategies (cell‐based, biomaterial‐based, and biomolecule‐based) for the functional regeneration of the spinal cord as well as challenges faced by scientists currently. This article provides scientists and clinicians with a comprehensive outlook on the recent advances of preclinical and clinical treatments of SCI, hoping to help them find keys to the functional regeneration of SCI. Abstract : Spinal cord injury is still an intricate accident for clinicians to handle. By reviewing recent advances on cell and tissue engineering, we aim to provide an insight into the most forefront neuroprotective and neuroregenerative strategies in order to predict where the field is going in the future. We hope that this review will help accelerate the clinical transformation of SCI regeneration strategies.