Neural cell transplants may help those with Parkinson...(favors the prospect of circuit reconstru...)

According to corresponding author John Sladek, PhD of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, there have always been questions about the regenerative capacity of mammalian neurons. One point at issue was the need to provide a neuronal microenvironment that would be more conducive for regulated neurological control of DA production and release by the grafted neurons, said Sladek.

Test results suggested that substantia nigra grafts could send targeted DA neurons to a location where they could survive and extend neurites over longer distances.

Survival of the grafts and extension of the axons is of importance because it positions the DA neurites to grow in a trajectory toward the striatum, using the striatal grafts as an attractant, concluded Sladek.

Contact: john.sladek@uchsc.edu

Taking these four papers together we can see that primate studies are helping to elucidate the likelihood of favorable outcomes following stem cell transplantation with respect to route of administration, possible modes of action and the ability to track the effects. said Jeffrey Kordower, PhD of the Rush University Medical Center, Chicago and guest editor of this special meeting issue of CELL TRANSPLANTATION.

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