Functional Recovery Following Spinal Cord Hemisection Mediated by a Unique Polymer Scaffold Seeded with Neural Stem Cells

摘要

A dual scaffold structure made of biodegradable polymers and seeded with neural stem cells has been developed to address the issues of spin cord including axonal severance and the loss of neurons and glia.The general design of the scaffold is derived the structure of the spina cord with an outer section which mimics the white matter with long axial pores to provide axonal guidance and an inner section seeded with neural stem cells to address the issuesof cell replacement and mimic the general characterof the gray matter.The seeded scaffold leads to improved functional recovery as compared with the lesion control or cells alone following spinal cord injury.