Neural Stem Cells Therapy to Treat Neurodegenerative Diseases

Department of life sciences, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 511436, China.

Corresponding author's e-mail: ShiLiShuang@cas-harbour.org

Abstract

Neural stem cells have the ability to proliferation, differentiate and renew, which plays an important role in the growth, maturation and senescence of the human brain. But according to researches, neural stem cells in the brain do not remain active throughout an organism's lifetime. Many neural stem cells become dormant when the brain matures, and may be activated when the body is sick to selectively heal the disease. In recent years, there are many studies on neural stem cells. Joshua[1] and Ting Zhang[2] show that neurodegenerative diseases such as ischemic stroke, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease can be improved by the transplantation of neural stem cells, however the specific mechanism is not clear. This paper investigates three main questions: Why neural stem cell transplantation is chosen as a treatment? Where does NSCs derive from in clinical transplantation? How does neural stem cell transplantation treat brain diseases? And we also figure out the answers to these three questions. Firstly, transplantation of hypothalamic NSCs can delay the process of aging in the host, and Chemokines and EVs which secreted by neural stem cells can delay aging and defend neurodegenerative diseases. Secondly, the sources of NSCs can be divided into three types. The first is to isolate NSCs from primary tissue and cultivate them in vitro. The second is to produce the required cells by inducing pluripotent stem cells and embryonic stem cells. The third way to get NCS is through transdifferentiation of somatic cells. Thirdly, in brain diseases, transplanted NSCs can migrate from the aggregation site to the site of the disease, reducing damage to the blood-brain barrier, repairing learning and memory abilities that depend on the hippocampus and secreting neurotrophic factors.