Spinal cord injury is a devastating trauma with high mortality and disability, for which there is no effective treatment. Stem cell-based tissue engineering has been reported to promote functional neural recovery. At present, building a neural scaffold with excellent biocompatibility for cells and tissues is still challenging. In this study, a new thermosensitive composite hydrogel based on chitosan, hydroxyethyl cellulose, collagen and β-phosphoglycerate (CS-HEC-Col/GP hydrogel) is developed to encapsulate murine bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) to improve therapeutic efficacy in spinal cord injured mice. This composite hydrogel possesses a good cytocompatibility to mouse BMSCs by live/dead staining, minimized inflammatory reaction in vivo by hematoxylin and eosin staining and suitable rheological behavior similar to neural tissue, ranging from 100 to 1000 Pa. Furthermore, the data from animal experiments indicated that BMSC-loaded CS-HEC-Col/GP hydrogel could enhance the survival or proliferation of endogenous nerve cells, probably by secreting neurotrophic factors and inhibiting apoptosis, and thereby promote the recovery of motor function in the hindlimbs of a murine spinal cord injury model.

中文翻译：

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装载骨髓间充质干细胞的基于壳聚糖的热敏支架可促进脊髓损伤小鼠的运动功能恢复。

脊髓损伤是一种具有高死亡率和致残率的毁灭性创伤，目前尚无有效的治疗方法。据报道，基于干细胞的组织工程可促进功能性神经恢复。目前，构建对细胞和组织具有优异生物相容性的神经支架仍然具有挑战性。在这项研究中，开发了一种基于壳聚糖、羟乙基纤维素、胶原蛋白和 β-磷酸甘油酸的新型热敏复合水凝胶（CS-HEC-Col/GP 水凝胶），用于包裹鼠骨髓间充质干细胞 (BMSCs) 以提高治疗效果在脊髓受伤的小鼠中。这种复合水凝胶通过活/死染色对小鼠 BMSC 具有良好的细胞相容性，