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Purpose <p>Spinal cord injury (SCI) remains a devastating condition with no effective clinical therapies available, and many pharmacological candidates failing in clinical trials. This highlights the urgent need for reliable experimental models to study SCI pathophysiology and evaluate potential therapeutics. The primary purpose of this review is to summarize recent advances in <i>in vitro</i> SCI models and assess their potential to complement traditional <i>in vivo</i> approaches, thereby reducing animal use and improving translational relevance.</p> Methods <p>A comprehensive literature review was conducted to evaluate the development and application of <i>in vitro</i> SCI models, including three-dimensional (3D) culture systems, <i>ex vivo</i> organotypic slice cultures, and microfluidic chip-based models. Key parameters assessed included biological relevance, reproducibility, scalability, and compatibility with drug screening platforms. A comparative overview of <i>in vivo</i> models was also included to contextualize the benefits and limitations of <i>in vitro</i> approaches.</p> Results <p>Emerging <i>in vitro </i>models have demonstrated significant improvements in mimicking the cellular and molecular aspects of human SCI. These systems offer advantages such as reduced ethical burden, enhanced reproducibility, and suitability for high-throughput applications. However, they still face challenges in replicating the full complexity of the injured spinal cord.</p> Conclusion <p>While <i>in vitro</i> SCI models cannot yet fully replace animal studies, they represent a promising complementary approach. Continued refinement of these systems, particularly through biomaterial integration and human cell-based platforms, may pave the way for more predictive and ethically responsible SCI research.</p>

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Modeling spinal cord injury: bridging in vitro systems and in vivo complexity

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月5日

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  • Rutuja Satvase,
  • Saumya Jaiswal,
  • Manjeet Chopra,
  • Hemant Kumar,
  • Akshay Srivastava

摘要

Purpose

Spinal cord injury (SCI) remains a devastating condition with no effective clinical therapies available, and many pharmacological candidates failing in clinical trials. This highlights the urgent need for reliable experimental models to study SCI pathophysiology and evaluate potential therapeutics. The primary purpose of this review is to summarize recent advances in in vitro SCI models and assess their potential to complement traditional in vivo approaches, thereby reducing animal use and improving translational relevance.

Methods

A comprehensive literature review was conducted to evaluate the development and application of in vitro SCI models, including three-dimensional (3D) culture systems, ex vivo organotypic slice cultures, and microfluidic chip-based models. Key parameters assessed included biological relevance, reproducibility, scalability, and compatibility with drug screening platforms. A comparative overview of in vivo models was also included to contextualize the benefits and limitations of in vitro approaches.

Results

Emerging in vitro models have demonstrated significant improvements in mimicking the cellular and molecular aspects of human SCI. These systems offer advantages such as reduced ethical burden, enhanced reproducibility, and suitability for high-throughput applications. However, they still face challenges in replicating the full complexity of the injured spinal cord.

Conclusion

While in vitro SCI models cannot yet fully replace animal studies, they represent a promising complementary approach. Continued refinement of these systems, particularly through biomaterial integration and human cell-based platforms, may pave the way for more predictive and ethically responsible SCI research.