Generation of human neural progenitor cells for cell therapy
2015
Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand
Human pluripotent stem cells popularity has grown over the last years as they offer an unlimited source of human cells for cell therapy strategies. This is because they have several characteristics that allow them to be maintained in culture without losing key features, like pluripotency. Recently, several studies have investigated the use of cell therapy strategies in neurodegenerative diseases that present massive neuronal loss, like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or Huntington's disease. In this study, human embryonic stem cells were differentiated into dopaminergic neurons in a two-step protocol that includes the generation of neural progenitors. Using small molecules the researchers could generate neural progenitors with similar characteristics to embryonic neural progenitor cells. Afterwards, these progenitors were treated with growth factors that induced their differentiation into dopaminergic neurons that expressed midbrain neuronal markers. Here, a new protocol is developed that allows the generation of human neural progenitor cells that can serve as an unlimited source of cell material for cell therapy strategies based on dopaminergic neuron replacement in Parkinson's disease.
Neural progenitor cells derived from human embryonic stem cells as an origin of dopaminergic neurons
Parinya Noisa
Added on: 08-30-2021
[1] https://www.hindawi.com/journals/sci/2015/647437/[2] https://data.jrc.ec.europa.eu/dataset/a8fd26ef-b113-47ab-92ba-fd2be449c7eb
