Progress in clinical trials of cell transplantation for the treatment of spinal cord injury: how many questions remain unanswered?

Spinal cord injury can lead to severe motor, sensory and autonomic nervous dysfunctions. However, there is currently no effective treatment for spinal cord injury. Neural stem cells and progenitor cells, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, olfactory ensheathing cells, umbilical cord blood stem cells, adipose stem cells, hematopoietic stem cells, oligodendrocyte precursor cells, macrophages and Schwann cells have been studied as potential treatments for spinal cord injury. These treatments were mainly performed in animals. However, subtle changes in sensory function, nerve root movement and pain cannot be fully investigated with animal studies. Although these cell types have shown excellent safety and effectiveness in various animal models, sufficient evidence of efficacy for clinical translation is still lacking. Cell transplantation should be combined with tissue engineering scaffolds, local drug delivery systems, postoperative adjuvant therapy and physical rehabilitation training as part of a comprehensive treatment plan to provide the possibility for patients with SCI to return to normal life. This review summarizes and analyzes the clinical trials of cell transplantation therapy in spinal cord injury, with the aim of providing a rational foundation for the development of clinical treatments for spinal cord injury.

Targeting the Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition in Cancer Stem Cells for a Better Clinical Outcome of Glioma.

Glioma is one of the most common malignant tumors of the central nervous system with a poor prognosis at present due to lack of effective treatment options. Its initiation, migration, and multipotency are affected by cancer stem cell's transition. Previous studies imply that changes in the cancer stem cells can affect the malignant differentiation of the tumor. We found that the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related regulatory pathway is an important target for tumor therapy. In this review, we discuss the transition factor of EMT and 3 specific pathways that affect the EMT of cancer stem cells during tumor development. We conclude that targeting the EMT process of cancer stem cells can be a feasible approach in the treatment of glioma.