Potential for cell therapy in Parkinson's disease using genetically programmed human embryonic stem cell–derived neural progenitor cells

Abstract

Neural transplantation is a promising strategy for restoring dopaminergic dysfunction and modifying disease progression in Parkinson's disease (PD). Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are a potential resource in this regard because of their ability to provide a virtually limitless supply of homogenous dopaminergic progenitors and neurons of appropriate lineage. The recent advances in developing robust cell culture protocols for directed differentiation of hESCs to near pure populations of ventral mesencephalic (A9-type) dopaminergic neurons has heightened the prospects for PD cell therapy. Here, we focus our review on current state-of-the-art techniques for harnessing hESC-based strategies toward development of a stem cell therapeutic for PD. Importantly, we also briefly describe a novel genetic-programming approach that may address many of the key challenges that remain in the field and that may hasten clinical translation.

Olfactory mucosa: a rich source of cell therapy for central nervous system repair

“…Cell therapy is thought to be a promising strategy for CNS repair over recent years. Neural stem cells (NSCs) and olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) are two major types of cells used in a variety of CNS disease for both clinical application and animal models, including brain injury, spinal cord injury (SCI), Parkinsonian disease, and cognitive dysfunction (Srivastava et al, 2009;Ambasudhan et al, 2014;Rao et al, 2014;Wakeman et al, 2014). However, the sources of these two cells from hippocampus and olfactory bulb (OB) impede the progress of clinical application.…”

The role of cell based therapy in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease

“…Additionally, they improve the motor signs of PD [18][19][20][21]. Some of the early studies found that the formation of tumor after embryonic stem cell transplantation is a major drawback of this technique [22,23]. Therefore, it is required to reduce the possibility of tumor formation.…”

Regenerative cellular therapies for neurologic diseases

“…Recent advances in iPSC biology to successfully differentiate pluripotent cells into authentic A9 dopaminergic neurons and in Good Laboratory Practice manufacturing of these cells open a new avenue for cell replacement therapy (Sanchez-Danes et al , 2012). Several groups have initiated pre-clinical studies evaluating the use of either fetal, ESC or iPSC-derived dopaminergic cells (Ambasudhan et al , 2014). …”