Adult neural stem cells: isolation and propagation

Individualized therapy using adult stem cells constitutes a revolutionary vision for molecular medicine of the future. The field of stem cell biology has accelerated dramatically such that it now appears feasible to treat an individual patient's disease with native or modified stem cells collected from the same patient. Neurodegenerative disease is a high-priority goal for stem cell therapy due to the tremendous clinical urgency to reduce the worldwide suffering associated with this class of diseases. This chapter focuses on adult neural stem cells as a prototype for the general field of adult stem cell therapy. Studies of the origin and function of neural stem cells reveals that the adult brain can generate new neurons. This finding provides the rationale for the therapeutic application of adult neural stem cells to treat neuronal damage or loss. Experimental progress in treating Parkinson's disease is discussed in some detail as an example of one of the most promising areas for adult neural stem cell therapy. Methods for neural stem cell isolation and propagation are included.