Neural stem cells and interleukin-13 as a combination therapy for spinal cord injury

Abstract

In this study, we have combined the immunomodulatory and regenerative properties of neural stem cells (NSCs) and interleukin-13 (IL-13) as a therapeutic strategy for spinal cord injury (SCI). NSC transplantation alone will most likely not be successful without the application of additional factors which modulate the environment to make it more supportive and permissive for endogenous neural regeneration. We hypothesized that NSCs and IL-13, alone or in combination, induce a significant improvement in clinical and histological outcome after SCI by modulating the inflammatory response. Firstly, we investigated whether the transplanted eGFP-positive NSCs survived after grafting into the spinal cord lesion, as well as measuring the clinical and histological outcome. Secondly, eGFP-positive NSCs were injected into the spinal cord lesion of mice, followed by the addition of an IL-13 containing gelfoam. Clinical outcome and survival of the transplanted NSCs were again determined.