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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Stem Cell Research
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1549194
Cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons: a promising source for adult neural stem cell transplantation in spinal cord injury treatment
Provisionally accepted
Zhang-Rong Luo 1
Zeyu Shangguan 1
Liang Cao 1
Zhang Yi 1
Qizhe Li 1
Xuexing Shi 1
Jiangquan Fu 1
Chunqing Wang 1
Xiaowei Dou 2
Wei Tan 1*
Qing Li 1*- 1 Department of Emergency, Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou Province, China
- 2 Clinical Research Center, Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China, Guiyang, China
Transplantation of adult neural stem cells (NSCs) is regarded as one of the most promising approaches for treating spinal cord injury (SCI). However, securing a sufficient and reliable source of adult NSCs remains one of the primary challenges in applying this method for SCI treatment. Cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons (CSF-cNs) act as adult NSCs and can be substantially expanded in vitro while maintaining their NSC characteristics even after 60 passages. When CSF-cNs are transplanted into the injury sites of SCI mice, they demonstrate high survival rates along with the ability to proliferate and differentiate into neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes.Additionally, significant improvements in motor function have been observed in SCI mice following the transplantation of CSF-cNs. These results suggest that CSF-cNs may represent a promising source of adult NSCs for transplantation therapy in SCI.
Keywords: Neural Stem Cells, cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons (CSF-cNs), spinal cord injury (SCI), Cell transplantation therapy, Motor function recovery
Received: 20 Dec 2024; Accepted: 14 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Luo, Shangguan, Cao, Yi, Li, Shi, Fu, Wang, Dou, Tan and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Wei Tan, Department of Emergency, Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou Province, China
Qing Li, Department of Emergency, Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou Province, China
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