Sasai Yoshiki
Organogenesis and Neurogenesis Group, Center for Developmental Biology, RIKEN, Kobe 650-00047, Japan.
J Neurol. 2002 Sep;249 Suppl 2:II41-4. doi: 10.1007/s00415-002-1208-0.
Neuronal transplantation is considered to be a promising therapeutic approach to neurodegenerative diseases. In addition to fetal tissues and neural stem cells, embryonic stem cells are good candidates for the creation of neurons. We have recently identified a stromal cell-derived inducing activity that promotes neural differentiation of mouse embryoric stem cells. This activity accumulated on the surface of PA6 stromal cells and induced efficient neuronal differentiation of co-cultured embryonic stem cells under serum-free conditions without the use of either retinoic acid or embryoid bodies. A high proportion of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive neurons producing dopamine are obtained. Induction of neurons with stromal cell-derived inducing activity may be a useful new method for basic neuroscience research and therapeutic applications, including cell transplantation therapy for Parkinson's disease.
神经元移植被认为是治疗神经退行性疾病的一种有前景的治疗方法。除了胎儿组织和神经干细胞外，胚胎干细胞也是生成神经元的良好候选细胞。我们最近发现了一种基质细胞衍生的诱导活性，它能促进小鼠胚胎干细胞的神经分化。这种活性积聚在PA6基质细胞表面，在无血清条件下，无需使用视黄酸或胚状体，就能诱导共培养的胚胎干细胞高效地分化为神经元。可以获得高比例的产生多巴胺的酪氨酸羟化酶阳性神经元。利用基质细胞衍生的诱导活性诱导神经元可能是基础神经科学研究和治疗应用（包括帕金森病的细胞移植治疗）的一种有用的新方法。
