After complete spinal cord injury, neurons need to regrow their transected axons across a non-permissive, mainly cystic lesion defect to reinnervate previous target neurons to ultimately elicit functional recovery. Therefore, the main rationale for cell transplantation strategies in the injured mammalian spinal cord is to replace this lesion defect with a growth conducive cellular scaffold for transected axons to regenerate on. Developmental studies in lower vertebrates and mammals indicate that specific glial cells provide cell-contact mediated guidance cues for axon growth. Also following injury, cell-contact mediated axon regeneration appears to play a major role in promoting substantial structural repair in lower vertebrates. The relevance of direct cellular guidance in axonal regrowth after injury in the mammalian CNS is much less defined. Subject of this presentation is to discuss cell-based therapeutic approaches in light of their ability to provide a cellular bridge for nerve regeneration after spinal cord injury.