Adult stem cell therapy – an option for the brain?

Many different cell sources have been investigated for cell replacement therapy in Parkinsons's disease, and some cells have been already tested in animal models and/or clinical trials. So far, results with embryonic ventral mesencephalic neurons have yielded the most marked effects. However, only about 300–400 patients have been transplanted worldwide, mainly due to a shortage of donor tissue. Therefore, alternative cell sources for neurotransplantation in PD are currently being explored, among them genetically modified cell lines, progenitor cells, embryonic and adult stem cells. The ideal cell for transplanta…