Stem cells and neurodegenerative diseases (1)

Achievements in the field of stem cell research are a ray of hope for improving the diagnosis and prediction of neurodegenerative diseases

Advances in Stem Cell Research - A Ray of Hope in Better Diagnosis and Prognosis in Neurodegenerative Diseases Shripriya Singh et al., Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences, 2016

Translated by Evgenia Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ruIntroduction

Neurodegeneration and neurodegenerative diseases have been a global problem for some time, which affects an aging population around the world. Recent advances in stem cell biology have changed the situation in the modeling, diagnosis and transplantation therapy of neurodegenerative diseases. Stem cells also act as a simple tool for screening therapeutic drugs and experimental compounds in vitro. In this article, the authors describe the possibilities of using stem cells, including induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), in neurodegeneration, and also address the issues of diagnosis, modeling and strategies of therapeutic transplantation in the most common neurodegenerative diseases. They discuss the progress that has taken place over the past decade, mainly focusing on various applications of stem cells in the field of neurodegenerative diseases.

Progress in clinical research and medicine has significantly reduced mortality on a global scale. Developed countries have increased the life expectancy of their aging population. However, the modern world has already faced the problems of aging and age-related diseases. Neurodegeneration and neurodegenerative diseases are one of the main medical problems faced by an aging population. Studies devoted to neurodegeneration mainly use the results of research in the field of neuropathology and in vivo experiments. Neurodegenerative diseases have been studied in detail on animal models, primary cultures and postmortem samples of human brain tissue. Despite being informative, these approaches have certain limitations. The results obtained in animal models do not show a direct correlation with the data obtained for humans, since the brain of rodents is not exactly an imitation of the human brain. Despite the high degree of evolutionary preservation, mammalian genomes are not identical. The embryonic development of mice differs significantly from the embryonic development of humans, which is due to almost 20% genetic variability. For this reason, interspecific differences prevent the successful validation of the results of animal experiments in clinical trials, which generates a large economic burden. For example, one of the studies demonstrated the ineffectiveness of therapeutic drugs for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which had previously shown good results in experiments on rodents. Experiments on primary cultures of neurons are also associated with great difficulties, since the population of postmitotic differentiated cells is difficult to maintain in vitro. Ethical issues make it difficult to conduct research involving humans, so the best possible source of human samples is the brain tissue of the deceased. However, such samples reflect the terminal stages of the disease and do not allow us to understand the intricate mechanisms of the initial stages of the development of the disease. Researchers do not want to expose people to untested interventions, but today the range of permissible interventions is very limited.

At the present stage, most neurodegenerative diseases are incurable (Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), but timely diagnosis can improve the effectiveness of disease management and symptom relief. Nevertheless, researchers all over the world are constantly trying to find a cure and hope to get good results in the near future.

Studies devoted to the study of neurodegeneration in general can be divided into two main categories. One of them is known as an experimental modeling strategy, which allows to obtain comprehensive information about the disease, including its etiology, pathophysiology, interaction between genotype and phenotype, as well as symptomatic and mechanistic features. The second is a medical approach that extends to the treatment and management of the course of the disease. Stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells are widely used in both categories, both in disease modeling and in transplant and regenerative therapeutic approaches. This review discusses the applicability of stem cell research in the field of neurodegenerative diseases, and also provides the latest data on the application of the results of studies on stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells in the diagnosis and therapy of the most common neurodegenerative diseases. The authors briefly describe the achievements and preferred techniques using stem cell cultures and induced stem cells, such as three-dimensional (3D) cultures that have revolutionized modern trends in in vitro experiments. The article focuses on the fact that animal studies in vivo are extremely necessary for the field of neurobiological research, but they are not enough, and clinical studies of cell therapy methods are already opening up and will continue to open up new prospects in the field of modeling and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

Continuation: Stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells in neurodegeneration: what to choose?  

27.02.2017