Drs. Xu, Mahairaki and Koliatsos explored whether grafts of exogenous stem cells in the spinal cord of rats can induce initiate intrinsic repair mechanisms that can be exploited in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) therapeutics. Human neural stem cells (NSCs) were transplanted into the lower lumbar spinal cord of healthy rats or rats with transgenic motor neuron disease to explore whether signals related to stem cells can initiate intrinsic repair mechanisms in normal and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis subjects. Their findings suggest that there is extensive cross-signaling between transplanted NSCs and a putative neurogenic niche in the ependyma of the lower lumbar cord. The formation of a neuronal cord from NSC-derived cells next to ependyma suggests that this structure may serve a mediating or auxiliary role for ependymal induction. These findings raise the possibility that NSCs may stimulate endogenous neurogenesis and initiate intrinsic repair mechanisms in the lower spinal cord. The study was published in Regenerative Medicine (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23164079).