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What are neural stem cells and how
they are being used to treat neurodegenerative diseases such
as Parkinson's?
Neural stem cells (also known as neural progenitors or neural
precursor cells) are a relatively undifferentiated population(s)
of cells in the central nervous system (CNS, the brain and
spinal cord). These cells are thought to give rise to the
broad array of specialized cells of the CNS, including both
neurons and glial cells.
Long thought to be an exclusive component of the developing
CNS, neural stem cells have been demonstrated to exist in
the adult animal, as well as human, CNS. New research shows
that these cells can be isolated and cultured. As a result,
these cells are being considered as a transplantable tissue
for the repair of injury such as that sustained during traumatic
brain injury or stroke or the repair of pathological processes
such as those seen in the genetic birth defects glutaric acidemia
(Type I) or Leigh's disease.
In addition, these cells allow the detailed study of the
mechanisms of neural differentiation and the genetic and environmental
signals that direct the specialization of the cells into particular
cell types. As of yet these cells have not been used in any
human studies. In animal studies, however, promising new research
suggests that implantation of the cells into brain areas that
have been damaged by direct injection of specific toxins leads
to some recovery of function of those brain areas. This aspect
of research using neural precursors is only in its infancy.
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