학술논문

Restorative effects of human neural stem cell grafts on the primate spinal cord
Document Type
article
Source
Nature Medicine. 24(4)
Subject
Biomedical and Clinical Sciences
Neurosciences
Neurological
Animals
Axons
Cell Differentiation
Cell Movement
Cell Survival
Humans
Macaca mulatta
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Nerve Regeneration
Neural Stem Cells
Spinal Cord
Treatment Outcome
Medical and Health Sciences
Immunology
Biomedical and clinical sciences
Health sciences
Language
Abstract
We grafted human spinal cord-derived neural progenitor cells (NPCs) into sites of cervical spinal cord injury in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Under three-drug immunosuppression, grafts survived at least 9 months postinjury and expressed both neuronal and glial markers. Monkey axons regenerated into grafts and formed synapses. Hundreds of thousands of human axons extended out from grafts through monkey white matter and synapsed in distal gray matter. Grafts gradually matured over 9 months and improved forelimb function beginning several months after grafting. These findings in a 'preclinical trial' support translation of NPC graft therapy to humans with the objective of reconstituting both a neuronal and glial milieu in the site of spinal cord injury.