Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devasting condition with no reliable treatment. Spina bifida is the most common cause of congenital SCI. Cell-based therapies using mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCS) have been largely utilized in SCI. Several clinical trials for acquired SCI use adult tissue-derived MSC sources, including bone-marrow, adipose, and umbilical cord tissues. The first stem/stromal cell clinical trial for spina bifida is currently underway (NCT04652908). The trial uses early gestational placental-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (PMSCs) during the fetal repair of myelomeningocele. PMSCs have been shown to exhibit unique neuroprotective, angiogenic, and antioxidant properties, all which are promising applications for SCI. This review will summarize the unique properties and current applications of PMSCs and discuss their therapeutic role for acquired SCI.

Extracellular Vesicles and Circulating Nucleic Acids is an open access journal, focusing on extracellular vesicles and circulating nucleic acids including DNA, RNA, and miRNA and their therapeutic use.

Lower limb prosthesis abandonment is a significant challenge, leading to reliance on walking aids, such as wheelchairs, which frequently do not match the patient’s needs and lead to increased morbidity. Prosthesis abandonment is driven by a lack of embodiment, the latter defined as the integration of a prosthetic device into one’s body schema. This review evaluates interventions enhancing embodiment through three dimensions: ownership, agency, and co-location. The aim of this narrative review is to ask what interventions are available to improve embodiment, and what dimensions of embodiment should be included in the standard of care for lower-limb amputation surgery and componentry development. This narrative is constructed through a thorough literature search on how the aforementioned dimensions of embodiment can be optimized. In the studies reviewed, standardization of embodiment metrics and longitudinal data are lacking, hindering clinical translation. Future work must prioritize patient-centered design, integrate multidimensional assessments, and address practical issues to expand eligibility for advanced interventions.