Using Stem Cells to Improve Bladder Function After a Low Spinal Cord Injury

Stem cells have the potential to become any cell of the body and after a spinal cord injury, researchers have used them to replace everything from the supporting cells of the nervous system to the actual cells that transmit information from the brain to different parts of the body. The Havton lab at the Reeve-Irvine Research Center and the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell research Center at UC Irvine is utilizing stem cells to replace cells located in the low lumbar and sacral regions of the spinal cord that are injured after a trauma to the lumbosacral spinal cord and nerve roots. Physicians often refer to these injuries as conus medullaris or cauda equina injuries. After a low spinal cord injury the bladder may become underactive because spinal cord motor neurons that normally signal the bladder to contract are either dead or dying. As a result, the bladder tends to fill up more than it should, because the affected individual is unable to sense the fullness of the bladder or empty the bladder voluntarily. Such over-filling of the bladder can lead to urinary tract infections, kidney disease or overflow incontinence. Ongoing research in the Havton lab focuses on the nerve cells in the spinal cord that normally contract the bladder and cause voiding. For this purpose, stem cells are used in laboratory models to replace the injured and lost motor neurons. The goal of the study is for cell replacement therapy to improve bladder function and the quality of life of people living with a low spinal cord injury.

In collaboration with Drs. Harley Kornblum and Bennett Novitch at UCLA, the Havton lab has developed a method to convert stem cells into a mix of motor neurons and support cells in the dish and transplant the cells into the spinal cord of rats. Ongoing studies are using a cauda equina injury model and the cell transplantation strategies to determine feasibility of this approach to reverse functional deficits of the bladder. Special attention is paid to see whether the transplanted cells may survive over long periods of time after transplantation and reconnect with the peripheral targets in the pelvis to restore bladder function. The collaborative and translational studies have received support from California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). Dr. Arthi Amin, a post-doctoral fellow in the Havton lab, will present results from this ongoing study in November at the annual meeting for the Society for Neuroscience in Washington, D.C.