LUNAM Université, France.
Curr Med Chem. 2012;19(35):6018-35.
Cell transplantation has been proposed as a means of replacing specific cell populations lost through neurodegenerative processes such as that seen in Parkinson's or Huntington's diseases. Improvement of the clinical symptoms has been observed in a number of Parkinson and Huntington's patients transplanted with freshly isolated fetal brain tissue but such restorative approach is greatly hampered by logistic and ethical concerns relative to the use of fetal tissue, in addition to potential side effects that remain to be controlled. In this context, stem cells that are capable of self-renewal and can differentiate into neurons, have received a great deal of interest, as demonstrated by the numerous studies based on the transplantation of neural stem/progenitor cells, embryonic stem cells or mesenchymal stem cells into animal models of Parkinson's or Huntington's diseases. More recently, the induction of pluripotent stem cells from somatic adult cells has raised a new hope for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. In the present article, we review the main experimental approaches to assess the efficiency of cell-based therapy for Parkinson's or Huntington's diseases, and discuss the recent advances in using stem cells to replace lost dopaminergic mesencephalic or striatal neurons. Characteristics of the different stem cells are extensively examined with a special attention to their ability of producing neurotrophic or immunosuppressive factors, as these may provide a favourable environment for brain tissue repair and long-term survival of transplanted cells in the central nervous system. Thus, stem cell therapy can be a valuable tool in regenerative medicine.
细胞移植被提议作为一种替代特定细胞群体的手段，这些细胞群体通过神经退行性过程丧失，如帕金森病或亨廷顿病中所见。许多帕金森病和亨廷顿病患者接受了新鲜分离的胎儿脑组织移植，观察到了临床症状的改善，但这种恢复方法受到与使用胎儿组织相关的后勤和伦理问题的严重阻碍，此外，潜在的副作用也需要得到控制。在这种情况下，能够自我更新并能分化为神经元的干细胞受到了极大的关注，这一点已被基于将神经干细胞/祖细胞、胚胎干细胞或间充质干细胞移植到帕金森病或亨廷顿病动物模型中的众多研究证明。最近，从成体体细胞诱导多能干细胞为治疗神经退行性疾病带来了新的希望。在本文中，我们回顾了评估基于细胞的帕金森病或亨廷顿病治疗效率的主要实验方法，并讨论了使用干细胞替代丧失的多巴胺能中脑或纹状体神经元的最新进展。不同干细胞的特征被广泛检查，特别关注它们产生神经营养或免疫抑制因子的能力，因为这些因子可能为脑组织修复和移植细胞在中枢神经系统中的长期存活提供有利环境。因此，干细胞治疗可以成为再生医学的有价值工具。
