Zietlow Rike, Lane Emma L, Dunnett Stephen B, Rosser Anne E
Brain Repair Group, School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF10 3US, UK.
Cell Tissue Res. 2008 Jan;331(1):301-22. doi: 10.1007/s00441-007-0488-1. Epub 2007 Sep 28.
Although most peripheral tissues have at least a limited ability for self-repair, the central nervous system (CNS) has long been known to be relatively resistant to regeneration. Small numbers of stem cells have been found in the adult brain but do not appear to be able to affect any significant recovery following disease or insult. In the last few decades, the idea of being able to repair the brain by introducing new cells to repair damaged areas has become an accepted potential treatment for neurodegenerative diseases. This review focuses on the suitability of various human stem cell sources for such treatments of both slowly progressing conditions, such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and multiple sclerosis, and acute insult, such as stroke and spinal cord injury. Despite stem cell transplantation having now moved a step closer to the clinic with the first trials of autologous mesenchymal stem cells, the effects shown are moderate and are not yet at the stage of development that can fulfil the hopes that have been placed on stem cells as a means to replace degenerating cells in the CNS. Success will depend on careful investigation in experimental models to enable us to understand not just the practicalities of stem cell use, but also the underlying biological principles.
尽管大多数外周组织至少具有有限的自我修复能力，但长期以来人们都知道中枢神经系统（CNS）相对难以再生。在成人大脑中已发现少量干细胞，但这些干细胞似乎无法在疾病或损伤后带来显著的恢复。在过去几十年里，通过引入新细胞来修复受损区域从而修复大脑的想法已成为神经退行性疾病公认的潜在治疗方法。本综述聚焦于各种人类干细胞来源对于治疗缓慢进展性疾病（如帕金森病、亨廷顿舞蹈症和多发性硬化症）以及急性损伤（如中风和脊髓损伤）的适用性。尽管随着自体间充质干细胞的首次试验，干细胞移植现已向临床应用迈进了一步，但所显示的效果是中等的，尚未发展到能够实现人们将干细胞作为替代中枢神经系统中退化细胞手段的期望的阶段。成功将取决于在实验模型中的仔细研究，以使我们不仅能够理解干细胞使用的实际情况，还能理解其潜在的生物学原理。
