Role of endogenous neural stem cells in neurological disease and brain repair

Abstract

These examples show that stem-cell-based therapy of neuro-psychiatric disorders will not follow a single scheme, but rather include widely different approaches. This is in accordance with the notion that the impact of stem cell biology on neurology will be fundamental, providing a shift in perspective, rather than introducing just one novel therapeutic tool. Stem cell biology, much like genomics and proteomics, offers a "view from within" with an emphasis on a theoretical or real potential and thereby the inherent openness, which is central to the concept of stem cells. Thus, stem cell biology influences many other, more traditional therapeutic approaches, rather than introducing one distinct novel form of therapy. Substantial advances have been made in neural stem cell research during the past few years. With the identification of stem and progenitor cells in the adult brain and die complex interaction of different stem cell compartments in the CNS-both, under physiological and pathological conditions-new questions arise: What is the lineage relationship between the different progenitor cells in the CNS and how much lineage plasticity exists? What are the signals controlling proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells and can these be utilized to allow repair of the CNS? Insights in these questions will help to better understand the role of stem cells during development and aging and the possible relation of impaired or disrupted stem cell function and their impact on both the development and treatment of neurological disease. A number of studies have indicated a limited neuronal and glial regeneration in certain pathological conditions. These fundamental observations have already changed our view on understanding neurological disease and the brain's capacity for endogenous repair. The following years will have to show how we can influence and modulate endogenous repair mechanisms by increasing the cellular plasticity in the young and aged CNS. ©2006 Eurekah.com and Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publishers.