[ES cell therapy for Parkinson's disease].
Neural transplantation, as a treatment for advanced Parkinson's disease (PD), has been studied for more than a decade due to the potential replacement of degenerated dopaminergic (DA) neurons. Several open-label studies on implantation of fetal nigral neurons revealed improvement in motor functions. However, the benefits were incomplete in double-blind trials. Progressive neural or embryonic stem (ES) cell research has raised hopes of creating novel cell replacement therapies for PD. DA neurons have been efficiently produced from primate ES cells in astrocyte-conditioned medium. Transplantation of neuronal stem cells derived from primate ES cells into a primate model of PD restored striatal DA function, suggesting ES cells are suitable donor cells.
Divison of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Jichi Medical School.
Yuko
Y
Nara
Shin-ichi
S
Muramatsu
Imaharu
I
Nakano
D000818:Animals; D000882:Haplorhini; D020734:Parkinsonian Disorders / Q000601:surgery*; D051381:Rats; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation