Neurosurgical grade biomaterial, DuraGen(TM), offers a promising matrix for protected delivery of neural stem cells in clinical cell therapies

Transplantation of neural stem cells (NSCs) into sites of neurological injury is being investigated in clinical trials around the world. These important self-renewing and multipotent precursors can generate the major central nervous system cell types – neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, and have a major role in ‘restorative cell therapeutics’. However, high stem cell death in host tissue (>∼90%) following surgical delivery procedures is a critical barrier to clinical translation. Polymer-based encapsulating biomaterials offer protective matrices to improve stem cell survival but the majority of studies use laboratory based …