Inflammation and stem cell migration to the injured brain in higher organisms.
Current treatments of neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease and stroke are only partially effective. Consequently new therapies such as cell transplantation are of great interest. Cell therapy has shown promising results in animal models and in limited clinical trials. This form of treatment does have its own concerns, such as what factors control the survival and/or migration of the transplanted cells and how do they exert their benefit. Recent studies on tracking the transplants, such as prelabeling of the cells prior to transplant, and those elucidating the role of chemokines, as well as microglial and inflammatory responses, that may initiate the movement and survival of these cells are discussed in this review. A better understanding of these mechanism-driven pathways of neural repair will facilitate the clinical application of cell therapy for neurological disorders.
Park
Dong-Hyuk
DH
Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair, Department of Neurosurgery, and College of Medicine, University of South Florida, 12901 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa, FL 33612, USA.
Eve
David J
DJ
Musso
James
J
Klasko
Stephen K
SK
Cruz
Eduardo
E
Borlongan
Cesario V
CV
Sanberg
Paul R
PR
D000818:Animals; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D002465:Cell Movement; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000473:pathology*; D017628:Microglia / Q000473:pathology; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*