Stem cells in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases (2)

(Continued; the beginning of the article is here.)

Therapy of neurodegenerative diseases and stem cells

The treatment of neurodegenerative diseases is one of the potential areas of clinical application of stem cells. The discovery of neural stem cells and the results of subsequent studies [21] refuted the previously prevailing idea in neuroscience, according to which the central nervous system of adults is not capable of neurogenesis [22,23]. It turned out that neurogenesis occurs throughout the life of the organism. It is believed that nerve stem cells are contained in the supraventricular zone of the lateral wall of the ventricle of the brain and the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, where neurogenesis occurs [22,24].

Neural stem cells give rise to glial progenitor cells and neuronal progenitor cells. The former are able to differentiate into astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, while the latter are able to differentiate into neurons [23]. The results of another study showed that nerve stem cells transplanted to old rats isolated from a 9-week-old human fetus are able to differentiate and improve the cognitive function of animals [25]. Therefore, the idea of using neural stem cells to treat neurodegenerative diseases is very promising.

However, it is quite difficult to obtain nerve stem cells suitable for subsequent therapeutic use. The results of a large number of earlier studies indicate the possibility of using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that are relatively easily isolated from the bone marrow to produce nerve cells. However, to date, scientists have agreed that mesenchymal stem cells are not able to differentiate into full-fledged nerve cells. The results of the earlier work of the authors of the article indicate that mesenchymal stem cells can be dedifferentiated into iPSC-like cells by increasing the expression of the nanog gene, the expression of which is characteristic of embryonic stem cells. After such dedifferentiation, mesenchymal stem cells were able to be transdifferentiated into nerve cells. This indicates the possibility of using adult stem cells as a source of autologous cells to create iPSCs. The described technology and technique for obtaining iPSCs open up the possibility of developing methods of autologous therapy of neurodegenerative diseases, as well as provide ease of isolation of the patient's own cells. Another key factor in the development of methods for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases with stem cells is the understanding of the mechanisms of pathogenesis of these diseases. Each disease should be studied separately, and each therapeutic approach should be developed accordingly.

Continuation: Alzheimer's disease and stem cells.

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30.03.2012