With the observations that stem-like cells from outside the central nervous system (CNS) can differentiate into neurons and neural stem cells can differentiate into a variety of blood cells, it is no longer inconceivable to suggest that stem cells present in umbilical cord blood could be used to generate neural cells for transplantation treatment of neurodegenerative diseases or spinal cord injury. The ease with which the umbilical cord blood can be obtained and the cell population expanded, in conjunction with low immunogenicity of the cells could make this a preferable source of cells for transplantation. This Phase I research program proposes to identify, isolate and expand the neural progenitors obtained from umbilical cord blood and determine if these cells are capable of differentiating into mature neural cells in vitro and after transplantation in vivo. Further, once this is determined, it will be shown that these cells can produce recovery on tests of motor function in an animal model of spinal cord injury. The success of directing stem cells obtained from umbilical cord blood into a neural phenotype has important implications for the therapeutic potential of stem cells in neural transplantation in humans for spinal cord repair.
