Neural stem cells for CNS transplantation

Neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and Huntington's disease are becoming ever more prominent in our society. A direct approach towards therapeutic treatment of these diseases is through replacement therapy where normal tissue is transplanted back to the nervous system. Recently, significant progress has been achieved with transplants in Parkinson's disease, but the process is heavily dependent on an unstable and problematic source of fetal tissue. Neural stem cells may become the tissue/cell source necessary for developing the therapeutic potential of neural transplantation. Stem cells are self-renewing, multipotent and could provide a well-characterized and clean source of transplantable material. A number of new in vitro approaches have led to the development of continuously propagated stem cells that are potential candidates for nervous system transplantation. These include oncogene-induced immortalization and growth-factor stimulation of naturally occurring central and peripheral nervous system stem cells. The nature of these cells and their suitability for transplantation into the CNS will be evaluated.