Abstract: There is provided a treatment for patients suffering from neurodegenerative disease or neural injury including the steps of transplanting cultured bone marrow cells into the spinal cord or brain or injecting intravascularly bone marrow cells of a patient in need. Also provided is a method of activating the differentiation of neural cells in an injured brain including the steps of transplanting bone marrow cells adjacent to the injured brain cells and activating the endogenous central nervous system stem cells to differentiate into neurons. A method of treating injured brain or spinal cord cells is also provided including the steps of transplanting bone marrow cells near the injured brain cells and generating new neurons at the location of transplantation. A method of treating injured brain or spinal cord cells with a composite of MSCs and neurospheres.

Abstract: The present invention encompasses methods and compositions for enhancing the growth of neural stem cells (NSCs). The invention relates to the benefits of culturing NSCs under lowered oxygen conditions as compared to environmental oxygen conditions traditionally employed in cell culture techniques.