Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases

The hematopoietic Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor (G-CSF) plays a role in controlling the survival and differentiation of neutrophil progenitor cells. After almost twenty years of clinical application in the field of hematopoietic diseases, G-CSF proved to have a good clinical safety profile. Its anti-apoptotic function is mediated via the G-CSF receptor, which has recently shown to be expressed not only by hematopoietic cells but also by dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra or retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). We thus performed in vitro an in vivo studies showing that G-CSF application significantly…