Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Jun; 20(11): 2698.

Published online 2019 May 31. doi: 10.3390/ijms20112698

Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Spinal Cord Injury: Current Options, Limitations, and Future of Cell Therapy

Fabio Cofano,^1,*† Marina Boido,^2,† Matteo Monticelli,¹ Francesco Zenga,¹ Alessandro Ducati,¹ Alessandro Vercelli,² and Diego Garbossa¹

Abstract

Spinal cord injury (SCI) constitutes an inestimable public health issue. The most crucial phase in the pathophysiological process of SCI concerns the well-known secondary injury, which is the uncontrolled and destructive cascade occurring later with aberrant molecular signaling, inflammation, vascular changes, and secondary cellular dysfunctions. The use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represents one of the most important and promising tested strategies. Their appeal, among the other sources and types of stem cells, increased because of their ease of isolation/preservation and their properties. Nevertheless, encouraging promise from preclinical studies was followed by weak and conflicting results in clinical trials. In this review, the therapeutic role of MSCs is discussed, together with their properties, application, limitations, and future perspectives.