Nature Medicine 10, S42–S50 (2004) Stem cell therapy for human neurodegenerative disorders–how to make it work Recent progress shows that neurons suitable for transplantation can be generated from stem cells in culture, and that the adult brain produces new neurons from its own stem cells in response to injury. These findings raise hope for the development of stem cell therapies in human neurodegenerative disorders. Before clinical trials are initiated, we need to know much more about how to control stem cell proliferation and differentiation into specific phenotypes, induce their integration into existing neural and synaptic circuits, and optimize functional recovery in animal models closely resembling the human disease.
Olle Lindvall1, 2, Zaal Kokaia2, 3, 5
& Alberto Martinez-Serrano4, 5
1 Laboratory of Neurogenesis and Cell Therapy, Section of Restorative Neurology, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Wallenberg Neuroscience Center, University Hospital, SE-221 84 Lund, Sweden. 2 Lund Strategic Research Center for Stem Cell biology and Cell Therapy, Lund, Sweden. 3 Laboratory of Neural Stem Cell Biology, Section of Restorative Neurology, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University Hospital, SE-221 84 Lund, Sweden. 4 Human Neural Stem Cell Biology and Gene Therapy Group, Center of Molecular Biology Severo Ochoa, Autonomous University of Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049-Madrid, Spain. 5 These authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence should be addressed to Olle Lindvall olle.lindvall@neurol.lu.se or Zaal Kokaia zaal.kokaia@neurol.lu.se or Alberto Martinez-Serrano amserrano@cbm.uam.es
Published online: 1 July 2004
doi:10.1038/nm1064 |
