The Use of Stem Cells as a Potential Treatment Method for Selected Neurodegenerative Diseases: Review

Abstract

Stem cells have been the subject of research for years due to their enormous therapeutic potential. Most neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and Huntington's disease (HD) are incurable or very difficult to treat. Therefore new therapies are sought in which autologous stem cells are used. They are often the patient's only hope for recovery or slowing down the progress of the disease symptoms. The most important conclusions arise after analyzing the literature on the use of stem cells in neurodegenerative diseases. The effectiveness of MSC cell therapy has been confirmed in ALS and HD therapy. MSC cells slow down ALS progression and show early promising signs of efficacy. In HD, they reduced huntingtin (Htt) aggregation and stimulation of endogenous neurogenesis. MS therapy with hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) inducted significant recalibration of pro-inflammatory and immunoregulatory components of the immune system. iPSC cells allow for accurate PD modeling. They are patient—specific and therefore minimize the risk of immune rejection and, in long-term observation, did not form any tumors in the brain. Extracellular vesicles derived from bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BM-MSC-EVs) and Human adipose-derived stromal/stem cells (hASCs) cells are widely used to treat AD. Due to the reduction of Aβ42 deposits and increasing the survival of neurons, they improve memory and learning abilities. Despite many animal models and clinical trial studies, cell therapy still needs to be refined to increase its effectiveness in the human body. Graphical Abstract

Perinatal Tissue-Derived Stem Cells: An Emerging Therapeutic Strategy for Challenging Neurodegenerative Diseases

“…Altogether, several clinical trials have been performed addressing the safety of MSC transplantation in patients with NDD. Overall, the results of these studies support the safety and feasibility of the transplantation of both autologous and allogeneic MSCs [103]. Published reports have shown that no tumors were formed because of the transplant, and no deaths occurred because of the therapeutic intervention.…”

“…Although several clinical trials have been conducted or are ongoing to evaluate the efficacy along with the safety profile of MSC therapy in NDD, few published results are available [103]. In the NCT01297218 and NCT01696591 studies [97], the administration of allogeneic hUCB-MSCs to the hippocampus and precuneus by stereotactic injection in patients with AD had no dose-limiting toxicity during 2 years of follow-up.…”

Renal cancer secretome induces migration of mesenchymal stromal cells

“…Such therapies could involve drugs (e.g., monoclonal antibodies) inhibiting the actions of proteins inducing MSCs homing to tumor sites and leading to the attenuation of cancer progression. Furthermore, MSCs are considered in treatments of broad spectrum of conditions, including cancer [ 65 ], diabetes [ 66 ], myocardial infarction [ 67 ], bone-related dysfunctions [ 68 ] or neurodegeneration [ 69 ]. Therefore, delineation of the mechanisms that regulate MSCs’ migration is crucial for further development and improvement of therapies utilizing engineered MSCs that are currently evaluated in clinical trials [ 70 ].…”

Extracellular vesicles as nanotheranostic platforms for targeted neurological disorder interventions

“…NSCs have been explored as a potential therapeutic avenue for replacing neurons lost to CNS disorders [ 283 ]. Despite their promise, the clinical application of NSC therapy faces significant hurdles, including immune rejection in the absence of substantial immunosuppression, low rates of cell engraftment, teratoma formation risks, and the invasiveness of intracerebral transplantation.…”