Browsing by Subject "Cell transplantation"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Open Access
    Cell therapy and delivery strategies for spinal cord injury
    (Universidad de Murcia, Departamento de Biologia Celular e Histiologia, 2021) Ramalho, Bruna dos S.; de Almeida, Fernanda M.; Martinez, Ana M.B.
    Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a complex neuropathological condition that represents a major challenge for clinicians and scientists due to patient's functional dysfunction and paralysis. Several treatments have been proposed including biological factors, drugs and cells administered in various ways. Stem cells arise as good candidates to treat SCI since they are known to secrete neurotrophic factors, improving neuroregeneration, but also due to their role in modulating the inflammatory process, favoring a pro-regenerative status. There are several types of cells that have been tested to treat SCI in experimental and clinical studies, but we still face many unanswered questions; one of them is the type of cells that can offer the best benefits and, also the ideal dose and administration routes. This review aimed to summarize recent research on cell treatment, focusing on current delivery strategies for SCI therapy and their effects in tissue repair and regeneration.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Open Access
    Mesenchymal stem cell-mediated treatment of oral diseases
    (F. Hernández y Juan F. Madrid. Universidad de Murcia: Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología, 2014) Liu, Yi; Hu, Jingchao; Wang, Songlin
    In the oral maxillofacial region, there are significant demands for repairing severe tissue defects caused by congenital malformations, oncologic resection, post-traumatic loss, and pathologic degenerative destruction such as periodontitis. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are adult stem cells whose multipotency has been investigated for therapeutic applications. This review highlights the main MSCs involved in the tissue regeneration of oral maxillofacial region and recent advances in dental MSCbased tissue regeneration and treatments in this region. MSCs isolated from oral maxillofacial sources have higher proliferation rates and are more capable of forming bone and dental tissues. Large animal models of oral diseases or defects were established and treated with MSCs. Miniature pigs or dogs more closely mimic disease in humans and provide a useful means for translating research into clinical applications. MSCs exert other beneficial effects, including immunomodulation and paracrine processes. The immunoregulatory properties of MSCs facilitate their application to oral diseases and tissue regeneration. Besides autologous MSCs being an excellent cell source for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, allogeneic MSC-based treatment also provides a safe and effective therapeutic modality, the use of allogeneic MSCs in highly standardized clinical trials could lead to a better understanding of their real-life applications, which sheds light on potential clinical applications for treating oral diseases.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Open Access
    New serum-derived albumin scaffold seeded with adipose-derived stem cells and olfactory ensheathing cells used to treat spinal cord injured rats
    (F. Hernández y Juan F. Madrid. Universidad de Murcia. Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología, 2013) Ferrero Gutiérrez, Amaia; Menéndez Menéndez, Yolanda; Álvarez Viejo, Maria; Meana, Álvaro; Otero, Jesús
    Recent advances in spinal cord injury (SCI) research and cell culture techniques and biomaterials predict promising new treatments for patients with SCI or other nerve injuries. Biomaterial scaffolds form a substrate within which cells are instructed to form a tissue in a controlled manner. This study was designed to assess axon regeneration and locomotor recovery in rats with spinal cord injury treated with a novel serumderived albumin scaffold seeded with adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) and olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs). OECs are considered promising candidates for the treatment of SCI, and ADSCs have the ability to differentiate into neural lineages. In vitro experiments revealed that ADSCs and OECs adhered to the scaffold, remained viable and expressed specific markers of their cell types when cultured in the scaffold. Rats treated with scaffold plus cells showed locomotor skills at several time points from 45 days post-injury that were improved over those recorded in control injured, untreated animals. Astrocytic scars and tissue regeneration, identified using histological and immunohistochemical techniques, revealed that although the scaffold itself appeared to play a significant role in reducing glial scar formation and filling of the lesion cavity with cells, the presence of ADSCs and OECs in the scaffold led to the appearance of cells expressing markers of neurons and axons at the injury site. Our findings point to the clinical feasibility of an albumin scaffold seeded with ADSCs and OECs as a treatment candidate for use in spinal cord injury repair studies.