Title: Neural Stem Cells for Spinal Cord Injury

Speaker: Dr. Mark H. Tuszynsk, Distinguished Professor of Neurosciences and Director of the UCSD Translational Neuroscience Institute at the University of California-San Diego

Date: Monday, July 28, 2025

Time: 11:30am – 1:00 pm  

Location: LSC, Rm # P4260

Host: Dept. of Psychology and Neuroscience

 
Description: We have been developing a neural stem cell treatment for spinal cord injury (SCI) in which early stage neural stem cells (NSCs) are grafted into spinal cord lesion sites to form new neural relays across the lesion: transected host axons regenerate into a neural stem cell graft implanted into the lesion site, and form synapses; in turn, grafted neurons extend axons out from the lesion site and into the distal host spinal cord and synapse onto host neurons. This circuitry establishes poly-synaptic relays across the lesion (Lu et al, Cell 2012; Kadoya et al, Nat Med 2016; Rosenzweig et al, Nat Med 2018; Kumamaru et al, Nat Meth 2018; Koffler et al, Nat Med 2019; Poplawski et al, Nature 2020; Ceto et al, Cell Stem Cell 2020; Sinopoulou et al, Neuron 2022; Sinopoulou Nat Biotech 2025). Key to this approach is the creation of a human neural stem cell line of spinal cord identity, H9-scNSCs, derived from the H9 embryonic stem cell line (Kumamaru et al, Nat Meth 2018). This talk will review efficacy and safety data regarding this line of work in rodent and primate models of SCI. Recently we found that grafts of H9- scNSCs restore 50% of skilled hand use after unilateral C7 SCI in non-human primates, compared to only 5% recovery in lesioned controls (P < 0.001). This program is undergoing preparation for initiation of human clinical trials.