Neural stem and progenitor cells: a strategy for gene therapy and brain repair

The damaged adult mammalian brain is incapable of significant structural self-repair. Although varying degrees of recovery from injury are possible, this is largely because of synaptic and functional plasticity rather than the frank regeneration of neural tissues. The lack of structural plasticity of the adult brain is partly because of its inability to generate new neurons, a limitation that has severely hindered the development of therapies for neurological injury or degeneration. However, a variety of experimental studies, as well as moderately successful clinical engraftment of fetal tissue into the adult parkinsonian brain, suggests that cell replacement is evolving as a valuable treatment modality. Neural stem cells, which are the self-renewing precursors of neurons and glia, have been isolated from both the embryonic and adult mammalian central nervous system. In the adult human brain, both neuronal and oligodendroglial precursors have been identified, and methods for their harvest and enrichment have been established. Neural precursors have several characteristics that make them ideal vectors for brain repair. They may be clonally expanded in tissue culture, providing a renewable supply of material for transplantation. Moreover, progenitors are ideal for genetic manipulation and may be engineered to express exogenous genes for neurotransmitters, neurotrophic factors, and metabolic enzymes. Thus, the persistence of neuronal precursors in the adult mammalian brain may permit us to design novel and effective strategies for central nervous system repair, by which we may yet challenge the irreparability of the structurally damaged adult nervous system.