Stem Cells for Neuro-regeneration: State of the Art

Abstract

Neuroregeneration (NR) is a long-sought medical dream which has intrigued vast research in the past decades. A traditional physiologic dogma that central nervous system does not regenerate has been strongly challenged in the recent years since the advent of the stem cell era. Stem cell research in the regenerative field passes through three main stages. The first stage is the in-vitro experiments which studies the exact molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying stem cell-mediated NR. The second stage is the application of these data in experimental animal settings to provide "proof of concept" of stem cell therapy in animal models. The final step is the translation of these data in pilot clinical trials. In this review, we will try to gather the different data of stem cell-mediated NR from various experimental and clinical researches.