GM-Free Generation of Blood-Derived Neuronal Cells

Many human neurological disorders are caused by degeneration of neurons and glial cells in the brain. Due to limitations in pharmacological and other therapeutic strategies, there is currently no cure available for the injured or diseased brain. Cell replacement appears as a promising therapeutic strategy for neurodegenerative conditions. To this day, neural stem cells (NSCs) have been successfully generated from fetal tissues, human embryonic cells (ES) or induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). A process of dedifferentiation was initiated by activation of the novel human GPI-linked glycoprotein, which leads to generation of pluripotent stem cells. These blood-derived pluripotent stem cells (BD-PSCs) differentiate in vitro into cells with a neural phenotype as shown by brightfield and immunofluorescence microscopy. Ultrastructural analysis of these cells by means of electron microscopy confirms their primitive structure as well as neuronal-like morphology and subcellular characteristics.