Biphasic electrical stimulation: A strategy may bring hope to spinal cord injury patients
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:30
in Health & Medicine
Transplantation stem cells is a potential clinical therapy for repair of spinal cord injury. However, transplanted cells are especially vulnerable due to a lack of sufficient growth factors at the transplant site. A new study demonstrates that biphasic electrical stimulation (BES) prevents growth factor-deprived apoptosis through the BDNF-PI3K/Akt signaling in neural stem cells. The findings may guide future efforts to stem cell-based transplantation therapy. It also raises hope that BES may one day be used to restore spinal cord injury.