title: Dopamine cell transplantation in Parkinson's disease: challenge and perspective.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Functional imaging provides a valuable adjunct to clinical evaluation for assessing the efficacy of cell-based restorative therapies in Parkinson's disease (PD).
  
  
  METHODS
  In this article, we review the latest advances on the use of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging in evaluating the surgical outcome of embryonic dopamine (DA) cell transplantation in PD patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  These studies suggest long-term cell survival and clinical benefit following striatal transplantation of fetal nigral tissue in PD patients and in models of experimental parkinsonism.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Adverse events subsequent to transplantation have also been noted and attributed to a variety of causes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Optimal outcomes of DA cell transplantation therapies are dependent on tissue composition and phenotype of DA neurons in the graft.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given continued progress in DA neuron production from stem cells in recent years, transplantation of neural stem cells may be the next to enter clinical trials in patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The existing data from studies of embryonic DA transplantation for advanced PD have provided valuable insights for the design of new cell-based therapies for the treatment of this and related neurodegenerative disorders.
authors.affiliation: Center for Neurosciences, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset, NY 11030, USA. yma@nshs.edu
authors.forename: Yilong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Shichun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Vijay
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dhawan
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Eidelberg
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000637:transplantation*; D006801:Humans; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000639:trends; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000637:transplantation*; D016896:Treatment Outcome