Electrical stimulation of the medullary pyramid promotes proliferation and differentiation of
oligodendrocyte progenitor cells in the corticospinal tract of the adult rat.
Not exact matches
«There are currently no therapies which successfully reverse the damage seen
in the more than 12,000 individuals who suffer a spinal cord injury each year
in the United States alone,» says Dr. Richard G. Fessler, professor of neurological surgery at Rush University Medical Center and principal investigator for the Phase 1 clinical trial involving AST - OPC1 (
oligodendrocyte progenitor cells).
This type of stem
cell, called an
oligodendrocyte progenitor cell, is found
in the brain and spinal cord.
Geron Corp., which earlier got permission to administer stem
cell — derived
oligodendrocyte progenitors to treat spinal injury, has been bogged down
in delays and may not begin its trial until late next year.
PDGFRα is a
cell surface tyrosine kinase receptor involved
in organ development and tumor progression, it is present
in multiple
cell types such as mesenchymal
cells, neurons, astrocytes, megakaryocytes and
oligodendrocyte progenitor.
Preclinical Safety of Human Embryonic Stem
Cell - Derived
Oligodendrocyte Progenitors Supporting Clinical Trials
In Spinal Cord Injury.
AST - OPC1 (
oligodendrocyte progenitor cells) is currently
in a Phase 1 / 2a dose escalation clinical trial
in spinal cord injury.
AST - OPC1, an
oligodendrocyte progenitor cell population derived from human embryonic stem
cells, has been shown
in preclinical testing
in animals and
in vitro to have three potentially reparative functions that address the complex pathologies observed
in demyelination disorders, such as spinal cord injuries, and multiple neurodegenerative diseases, including multiple sclerosis and white matter stroke.
Starting with transplants of human
oligodendrocytes in the late 1980s [40], and more recently with populations of human
oligodendrocyte progenitor cells isolated from the developing or adult CNS, or from human embryonic stem
cells, it has been possible to generate extensive myelination upon transplantation into spinal cord injury or into congenital mouse models of hypomyelination [41]--[48].
In the healthy brain, stem
cell - like glial
progenitors can divide, migrate to an injured site, and become mature
oligodendrocytes after myelin loss, but, unfortunately, the efficiency of remyelination declines with age.