Brain zap helps rats with spinal cord injuries walk

Stimulating the brains of rats with incomplete spinal cord injury improves their ability to walk. The findings by Brian Noga, Ian Hentall and colleagues at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine were reported at the annual meeting of…

Athersys reports benefits of their MultiStem® stem cell therapy in acute spinal cord injury

In a preclinical rodent model of SCI, researchers observed that a non-invasive intravenous administration of MultiStem cells one day after injury results in accelerated recovery, significant improvements in locomotor function and fine motor tests, and significant improvement in bladder function.…

First neural stem cell transplant into patient with sensory function below the level of injury

As part of their phase I/II clinical trial in chronic spinal cord injury, StemCells, Inc. has for the first time transplanted HuCNS-SC® neural stem cells into a patient with an incomplete spinal cord injury. This is the first patient in…

Stem cell implantations bring back feeling for paralysed patients

Positive interim results from StemCells Inc’s phase 1 study. In this initial safety trial, three patients with complete injuries had 20 million neural stem cells implanted directly into the spinal cord, something that has never been done before. Before treatment,…

Neural stem cells used to regenerate axons at spinal cord injury site

Research published in Cell has shown that stem cells can overcome inhibitory factors in the injured spinal cord and grow to form connections over long distances. The scientists embedded neural stem cells in a matrix of fibrin (a protein key…

New antibody substantially reduces damage in acute spinal cord injuries

Researchers at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) and the University of Melbourne have shown that a new antibody can reverse the damage caused by trauma to the central nervous system. The research team, led by Drs Yona Goldshmit…

Clinical trial using Schwann Cells to treat acute SCI gets green light

Found mainly in the peripheral nervous system, Schwann cells are essential to sending appropriate electrical signals through the nervous system. In what will be the only FDA-approved cell therapy-based clinical trial for sub-acute spinal cord injury in the United States,…