The spinal cord is a critical component of the central nervous system, which coordinates basic bodily functions as the primary relay center. Damage to the spinal cord can occur through immediate mechanical insult, known as traumatic injury, or progressive chronic mechanical compression,
commonly referred to as non-traumatic injury. These types of injuries can result in motor and sensory impairments that significantly affect the individual's quality of life and place a significant burden on the social medical care system. To date, there remains a lack of effective treatments for spinal cord injuries (SCI). Therefore, it is imperative to develop translational approaches and therapeutic treatments to address the unmet medical needs of patients with SCI.
This research aims to explore the underlying mechanisms and innovative therapeutic approaches for traumatic SCI and degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM), the most common form of nontraumatic SCI. Traumatic SCI mainly involves the disruption of microvasculature, inflammation, and apoptosis, leading to secondary damage to neural tissue, preventing axonal regeneration. DCM is characterized by bulging of the intervertebral disc and hypertrophy or invagination of the ligamentum flavum, resulting in spine column degeneration and trans-synaptic changes within the grey matter. Translational therapeutic approaches for SCI encompass molecular techniques to modulate apoptosis, inflammation, and tissue regeneration. Cell therapies seek to supply the lesion site with relevant cell populations to replace dying or degenerated cells. Biomaterials are vital in reconstructing damaged tissue by providing a growth-promoting environment to bridge the lesion. We encourage interdisciplinary collaborative research in this field.
Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
- How epigenetic factors affect molecular expression profiles and functional recovery after traumatic SCI.
- Single-cell-based cell subpopulation analysis for cell transplantation to treat traumatic SCI.
- Engineering bioactive materials therapies, e.g., gene-edited exosomes, for traumatic SCI repair.
- Constructing a clinically relevant novel animal model of DCM.
- The mechanism and treatment strategies for spinal cord hyperalgesia caused by spinal degeneration.
- Research on the pathogenesis of degenerative cervical spondylosis and treatment strategies.
Original Research Articles, Clinical Trials, Systematic Reviews, or Meta-analyses are particularly welcome, as are Reviews and Mini-Reviews.
The spinal cord is a critical component of the central nervous system, which coordinates basic bodily functions as the primary relay center. Damage to the spinal cord can occur through immediate mechanical insult, known as traumatic injury, or progressive chronic mechanical compression,
commonly referred to as non-traumatic injury. These types of injuries can result in motor and sensory impairments that significantly affect the individual's quality of life and place a significant burden on the social medical care system. To date, there remains a lack of effective treatments for spinal cord injuries (SCI). Therefore, it is imperative to develop translational approaches and therapeutic treatments to address the unmet medical needs of patients with SCI.
This research aims to explore the underlying mechanisms and innovative therapeutic approaches for traumatic SCI and degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM), the most common form of nontraumatic SCI. Traumatic SCI mainly involves the disruption of microvasculature, inflammation, and apoptosis, leading to secondary damage to neural tissue, preventing axonal regeneration. DCM is characterized by bulging of the intervertebral disc and hypertrophy or invagination of the ligamentum flavum, resulting in spine column degeneration and trans-synaptic changes within the grey matter. Translational therapeutic approaches for SCI encompass molecular techniques to modulate apoptosis, inflammation, and tissue regeneration. Cell therapies seek to supply the lesion site with relevant cell populations to replace dying or degenerated cells. Biomaterials are vital in reconstructing damaged tissue by providing a growth-promoting environment to bridge the lesion. We encourage interdisciplinary collaborative research in this field.
Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
- How epigenetic factors affect molecular expression profiles and functional recovery after traumatic SCI.
- Single-cell-based cell subpopulation analysis for cell transplantation to treat traumatic SCI.
- Engineering bioactive materials therapies, e.g., gene-edited exosomes, for traumatic SCI repair.
- Constructing a clinically relevant novel animal model of DCM.
- The mechanism and treatment strategies for spinal cord hyperalgesia caused by spinal degeneration.
- Research on the pathogenesis of degenerative cervical spondylosis and treatment strategies.
Original Research Articles, Clinical Trials, Systematic Reviews, or Meta-analyses are particularly welcome, as are Reviews and Mini-Reviews.