Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2019, Vol. 14 ›› Issue (2): 260-261.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.244786

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Stem cell-based in utero therapies for spina bifida: implications for neural regeneration

Connor Long1, Lee Lankford1, 2, Aijun Wang1, 2, 3   

  1. 1 Surgical Bioengineering Laboratory, Department of Surgery, University of California, Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA, USA;
    2 Institute for Paediatric Regenerative Medicine, Shriners Hospital for Children, Sacramento, CA, USA;
    3 Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis School of Engineering, Davis, CA, USA
  • Online:2019-02-15 Published:2019-02-15
  • Contact: Aijun Wang, PhD, aawang@ucdavis.edu.
  • Supported by:

    This work was in part supported by NIH (No. 5R01NS100761-02,5R03HD091601-02), Shriners Hospital for Children research grants (No. 87410-NCA-17 and 85119-NCA-18), and March of Dimes Foundation (No. 5FY1682) to AW.

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Abstract:

The history: Myelomeningocele – also known as spina bifida – is a devastating congenital anomaly of the central nervous system that is caused by the malformation of the spinal cord and vertebral column during embryogenesis. Depending on the location of the spina bifida lesion on the spine, patients suffer from neurological dysfunction ranging from paresis and incontinence to complete paralysis. The current standard of care for spina bifida is in utero surgical repair of the defect,which has been shown to minimize the secondary deficits associated with this disorder. Despite these successes, this approach does not reliably improve neurologic function of affected children. Several groups, including our own, have performed studies aimed at augmenting the in utero surgical repair of spina bifida by applying principles of stem cell and tissue engineering to provide an enhanced protection of the exposed neural elements. The ultimate goal of these studies is to improve the neurologic function in patients while maintaining the benefits of the existing fetal surgical treatment.