Potential of Neural Stem Cell-Based Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease

Table 1

Modulation of stem cells or dopaminergic (DA) cells with combined cellular transplantation in PD.

Type of transplanted cells		Animal model	Significance	Reference
Mouse fetal DA neurons	Mouse mesencephalic NSCs overexpressing human glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF-mNSCs)	6-OHDA rat	Apomorphine-induced rotation was reduced by cotransplantation of fetal DA neurons with mNSCs genetically modified to overexpress GDNF, which supports differentiation into DA cells and their survival	[66]
Human embryonic NSC	Macaque autologous Schwann cells (SCs)	6-OHDA macaque	Gomez-Mancilla dyskinesia score in the group of cotransplantation with SCs and NSCs was significantly lower than the control group. SCs harvested from the autologous peripheral nerves can avoid rejection	[67]
Human umbilical cord-derived MSCs	Human dermal fibroblasts	MPTP rat	Fibroblasts may be common cell contaminants affecting purity of MSC preparations and clinical outcome in stem cell therapy protocols	[68]
Rat embryonic DA neurons	Rat Schwann cells (SCs) overexpressing basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2)	6-OHDA rat	Cotransplantation of DA neurons and FGF-2 overexpressing SCs differentially affects survival and reinnervation. Behavioral recovery underlines the necessity of direct contact between FGF-2 and DA neurons	[69]