Stem Cell Therapies for Neurodegenerative Diseases

Abstract

Stem cell therapies have been proposed as a treatment option for neurodegenerative diseases, but the best stem cell source and therapeutic efficacy for neuroregeneration remain uncertain. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and neural stem cells (NSCs), which can efficiently generate neural cells, could be good candidates but they pose ethical and practical issues. Not only difficult to find the good source of those cells but also they alway pose immunorejection problem since they may not be an autologous cells. Even if we overcome the immunorejection problem, it has also been reported that transplantation of ESCs develop teratoma. Although adult stem cells are more accessible, they have a limited developmental potential. We developed technologies to increase potency of mesenchymal stem cells, which allow them to develop into neural cells, by over expression of the ESC gene, nanog. We also developed a small molecule compound, which significantly increases endogenous NSCs by peripheral administration, eliminating even the necessity of stem cell injection to the brain. These novel technologies may offer neuroregenerative therapies for Alzheimers disease (AD). However, we found that AD pathological condition prevent neurogenesis from NSCs. This chapter discusses how to overcome the problem associated stem cell therapy under AD pathology and introduces exosome as a tool to improve the modification of adult stem cells. These new technologies may open a door for the new era for AD therapy.

Therapeutic Effects of Human Amniotic Epithelial Stem Cells in a Transgenic Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease

“…In particular, recent studies have focused on stem cell-based therapies that promote the repopulation or regeneration of degenerating neuronal networks in AD [9,11,12]. Traditionally, stem cell therapy for AD has involved embryonic stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells from adult somatic tissues due to their pluripotency and immunomodulatory abilities, respectively [8,13]. Recently, human amniotic epithelial stem cells (hAESCs), a type of stem cell extracted from the innermost layer of the placenta, have been studied in humans and animals [11,14,15].…”

Application of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Neurodegenerative Diseases With Emphasis on Alzheimer’s Disease

“…Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy is regarded as one of the most prospective approaches for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, including PD and ALS (Baloh et al, 2018;Staff et al, 2019). In addition to MSC, neural stem cells (NSCs) could turn to be an optimal selection to replace specific lost neurons in vitro and in vivo (Sugaya and Vaidya, 2018).…”

Prion-like mechanisms in neurodegenerative disease: Implications for Huntington’s disease therapy

“…Stem cell therapy has the potential to make a major impact on the treatment of many diseases, especially neurodegenerative diseases. Stem‐cell‐based therapies have shown great promise in animal models of Huntington's (HD), Parkinson's (PD), and Alzheimer's (AD) diseases which has led to clinical trials that are at various stages of completion . The most widely used stem cells are mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which are derived from a variety of sources including bone‐marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM‐MSCs), umbilical cord blood‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC‐MSCs), Wharton jelly‐derived mesenchymal stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), neural stem cells (NSCs), and embryonic stem cells (ESCs) …”