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The therapeutic potential of neural stem cells

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 7, pages 395–406 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Recent evidence shows that transplantation of neural stem/precursor cells may protect the central nervous system from inflammatory damage through a 'bystander' mechanism that is alternative to cell replacement. This novel mechanism, which might improve the success of transplantation procedures, is exerted by undifferentiated neural stem cells, the functional characteristics of which are regulated by important stem cell regulators released by CNS-resident and blood-borne inflammatory cells. Here, we discuss this alternative bystander mechanism in the context of the atypical ectopic perivascular niche. We propose that it is the most challenging example of reciprocal therapeutic crosstalk between the inflamed CNS and systemically transplanted neural stem cells.

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Figure 1: Cytoarchitecture of the niche(s) in the subventricular zone of the healthy and chronically inflamed adult brain.
Figure 2: Adult neural stem/precursor cells recapitulate lymphocyte-like pathways for selective homing into inflamed areas of the CNS after intravenous injection.
Figure 3: Reconstitution of the endogenous stem cell compartment via the atypical ectopic (perivascular) niche.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank L. Politi for providing human and mouse MRI images. We are grateful to F. Mavilio for critical discussions about the manuscript. This work was supported in part by the Italian Ministry of Health, the Italian Multiple Sclerosis Foundation (FISM), the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) and The Myelin Project.

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  1. the Department of Neurology and Neurophysiology, Neuroimmunology Unit, DIBIT, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, via Olgettina 58, Milano, 20132, Italy

    Gianvito Martino & Stefano Pluchino

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Martino, G., Pluchino, S. The therapeutic potential of neural stem cells. Nat Rev Neurosci 7, 395–406 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1908

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