The research team from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities has demonstrated for the first time a groundbreaking method that combines 3D printing, stem cell biology, and laboratory cultured tissue technology, bringing new hope for repairing spinal cord injuries. The research results were published in the latest issue of Advanced Healthcare Materials. According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistics Center in the United States, over 300000 people suffer from spinal cord injuries, and there is currently no effective means to completely reverse the resulting neurological damage and paralysis. The main obstacles to treatment are the death of nerve cells after injury and the difficulty of nerve fibers to regenerate across the damaged area. This time, the team has developed an innovative 3D printed scaffold to support the growth of spinal cord organoids cultured in the laboratory. The stent is designed with precise microchannels inside, which are filled with region specific spinal nerve progenitor cells (sNPC) derived from human adult stem cells and have the potential to self renew and differentiate into various mature nerve cells. This structure actually constructs a neural relay system that, when implanted in the spinal cord, can bypass the damaged area and reconstruct neural signaling pathways. In animal experiments, the team transplanted this scaffold containing sNPC into rats with completely transected spinal cords. The results showed that the implanted cells successfully differentiated into functional neurons and extended nerve fibers along the scaffold channel towards the head (beak) and tail (tail) directions, establishing new synaptic connections with the original neural network upstream and downstream of the host spinal cord. Over time, the newly formed neural tissue achieved structural and functional integration with the host spinal cord, significantly promoting the recovery of motor function in rats. This achievement indicates that the technology has the potential to reconstruct the nerve conduction ability of damaged spinal cords. Regenerative medicine is ushering in a new era of research on spinal cord injury. ”Professor Ann Parr, a neurosurgeon at the University of Minnesota, said, "Our laboratory is actively exploring the future potential of this' mini spinal cord 'technology in clinical translation." The study is still in its early stages, mainly verifying its feasibility in animal models, but this scaffold provides unprecedented hope for curing spinal cord injuries. (New Society)