Stem cell-based treatments for spinal cord injury

Cell replacement strategies hold great promise for the treatment of central nervous system injuries and degenerative diseases. The advancement of stem cell therapies has proven to be a viable therapeutic approach to limit secondary degeneration and restore neuronal circuitry at the site of injury. Cell replacement strategies confer phenotype-specific and neurotrophic benefits to the surrounding tissue; however, the mechanisms of transplant-mediated repair are unique to each transplant population. Here, we review stem cell-based therapies for spinal cord injury and disease, involving a number of stem cell derivates. We discuss the mechanisms by which each of these populations exert their affects and briefly discuss phenotype-specific cell replacement in these models.