Examining the properties and therapeutic potential of glial restricted precursors in spinal cord injury

In the aftermath of spinal cord injury, glial restricted precursors (GRPs) and immature astrocytes offer the potential to modulate the inlfammatory environment of the injured spinal cord and promote host axon re-generation. Nevertheless clinical application of cellular therapy for the repair of spinal cord injury requires strict quality-assured protocols for large-scale production and preservation that necessitates long-term in vitro expansion. Importantly, such processes have the potential to alter the phenotypic and functional properties and thus therapeutic potential of these cells. Furthermore, clinical use of cellular therapies may be limited by the inlfammatory microenvironment of the injured spinal cord, altering the phenotypic and functional properties of grafted cells. This report simulates the process of large-scale GRP production and demonstrates the permissive properties of GRP following long-termin vitro culture. Furthermore, we de-ifned the phenotypic and functional properties of GRP in the presence of inlfammatory factors, and call attention to the importance of the microenvironment of grafted cells, underscoring the importance of modulating the environment of the injured spinal cord.