Advances in olfactory ensheathing cells for the treatment of spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury is a highly disabled neurological disease, and there is still a lack of effective treatments. Studies have proved that olfactory ensheathing cells are one of the ideal seed cells for promoting nerve regeneration after spinal cord injury. Olfactory ensheathing cells can promote axonal germination and elongation through secretion, interaction with astrocytes, regulation of inflammatory reaction, migration characteristics, myelination, anti-oxidation, lipid regulation and other channels. Thus olfactory ensheathing cells play the role of neuroprotection and nerve repair. In recent years, some studies have used bioengineering, tissue engineering, reprogramming and other technologies to enhance the efficacy of olfactoryensheathing cells from different aspects, thereby providing new therapeutic strategies for optimizing the cell therapy of spinal cord injury. This article will summarize the mechanism of olfactory ensheathing cells in repairing spinal cord injury, and review the progress of optimizing strategy of olfactory ensheathing cells in treating spinal cord injury recently, so as to provide new research ideas for the further developing the repair potential of olfactory ensheathing cells and optimize the cell therapy effect of spinal cord injury.