Following an initial mechanical insult, traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) induces a secondary wave of injury, resulting in a toxic lesion environment inhibitory to axonal regeneration. This review focuses on the glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and its application, in combination with other factors and cell transplantations, for repairing the injured spinal cord. As studies of recent decades strongly suggest that combinational treatment approaches hold the greatest therapeutic potential for the central nervous system (CNS) trauma, future directions of combinational therapies will also be discussed.
Keywords: GFRα-1; Schwann cells; astrogliosis; axonal regeneration; cRET; combinational therapies; glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF); neuroprotection; neurotrauma; spinal cord injury.