Functional Multipotency of Stem Cells and Recovery Neurobiology of Injured Spinal Cords

• Published in: Cell Transplantation Vol. 28; no. 4; pp. 451 - 459
• Main Author: Teng, Yang D.
• Format: Book Review Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-04-2019; Sage Publications Ltd; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Animals; Humans; Multipotent Stem Cells - metabolism; Nervous system; Neurobiology; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurological diseases; Neuronal-glial interactions; Neurosciences; Oncology; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Recovery of function; Review: Past Presidential Talk; Spinal cord; Spinal cord injuries; Spinal Cord Injuries - therapy; Stem Cell Transplantation - methods; Stem cells; Therapeutic applications; Transplantation; spinal cord injury; polymer; neural stem cell; serotonin; recovery neurobiology; neural oncology; induced pluripotent stem cell; functional multipotency; central pattern generation; locomotion; mesenchymal stromal stem cell
• ISSN: 0963-6897; 1555-3892
• DOI: 10.1177/0963689719850088

This invited concise review was written for the special issue of Cell Transplantation to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the American Society for Neural Therapy and Repair (ASNTR). I aimed to present a succinct summary of two interweaved lines of research work carried out by my team members and collaborators over the past decade. Since the middle of the 20th century, biomedical research has been driven overwhelmingly by molecular technology-based focal endeavors. Our investigative undertakings, however, were orchestrated to define and propose novel theoretical frameworks to enhance the field’s ability to overcome complex neurological disorders. The effort has engendered two important academic concepts: Functional Multipotency of Stem Cells, and Recovery Neurobiology of Injured Spinal Cords. Establishing these theories was facilitated by academic insight gleaned from stem cell-based multimodal cross-examination studies using tactics of material science, systems neurobiology, glial biology, and neural oncology. It should be emphasized that the collegial environment cultivated by the mission of the ASNTR greatly promoted the efficacy of inter-laboratory collaborations. Notably, our findings have shed new light on fundamentals of stem cell biology and adult mammalian spinal cord neurobiology. Moreover, the novel academic leads have enabled determination of potential therapeutic targets to restore function for spinal cord injury and neurodegenerative diseases.