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Updated: Feb 5, 2026

Culturing Human Pluripotent and Neural Stem Cells in an Enclosed Cell Culture System for Basic and Preclinical Research
Published on: June 10, 2016
Neural Stem Cell Dysfunction in Human Brain Disorders
Ewa Liszewska1, Jacek Jaworski2
1International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Warsaw, Poland. eliszewska@iimcb.gov.pl.
Abstract:
Neural stem cells (NSCs) give rise to the entire nervous system. Animal models suggest that defects in NSC proliferation and differentiation contribute to several brain disorders (e.g., microcephaly, macrocephaly, autism, schizophrenia, and Huntington's disease). However, animal models of such diseases do not fully recapitulate all disease-related phenotypes because of substantial differences in brain development between rodents and humans. Therefore, additional human-based evidence is required to understand the mechanisms that are involved in the development of neurological diseases that result from human NSC (hNSC) dysfunction. Human-induced pluripotent stem cells provide a new model to investigate the contribution of hNSCs to various neurological pathologies. In this chapter, we review the role of hNSCs in both neurodevelopment- and neurodegeneration-related human brain pathologies, with an emphasis on recent evidence that has been obtained using embryonic stem cell- or induced pluripotent stem cell-derived hNSCs and progenitors.
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