Authors:
Gaynor A. Smith & Evan Y. Snyder
First Paragraph of Commentary:
Transplantation and integration of normal, functional neurons remains the ultimate goal for restorative therapies in neurodegenerative diseases. While neural stem cells (NSCs) can themselves provide neurotrophic support to damaged neurons in the degenerating CNS (Kitchens et al., 1994; Ourednik et al., 2002; Redmond et al., 2007; Snyder and Teng, 2012; Teng et al., 2012), restoration of neural circuitry and synaptic connectivity using exogenous cells (including stem cells), emulating foetal tissue transplantation, has not yet been robustly demonstrated. Current methodological hurdles in experimental transplantation paradigms are the number of surviving cells, axonal outgrowth, and the yield of appropriate neural cell types in the proper ratios and assuming their proper cytoarchitectural relationships (Gaillard and Jaber, 2011; Galvin and Jones, 2006; Lindvall and Kokaia, 2010; Smith and Onifer, 2011).
Source:
Experimental Neurology; Vol. 247, 751-754 (09/2013)