Neural stem cell transplantation in an animal model of traumatic brain injury.

Abstract

The central nervous system (CNS) can be damaged by a wide range of conditions resulting in loss of specific populations of neurons and/or glial cells and in the development of defined psychiatric or neurological symptoms of varying severity. As the CNS has limited inherent capacity to regenerate lost tissue and self-repair, the development of therapeutic strategies for the treatment of CNS insults remains a serious scientific challenge with potential important clinical applications. In this context, strategies involving transplantation of specific cell populations, such as stem cells and neural stem cells (NSCs), to replace damaged cells offers an opportunity for the development of cell-based therapies. Along these lines, in this review we describe a protocol which involves transplantation of NPCs, genetically engineered to overexpress the neurogenic molecule Cend1 and have thus the potency to differentiate with higher frequency towards the neuronal lineage in a rodent model of stab wound cortical injury.