• Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Based Therapies for Neurodegenerative Diseases
  • Narjes Abbasi,1 Amir Gholamzad,2,*
    1. Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Advanced Science And Technology, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
    2. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Paramedical Sciences, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran


  • Introduction: Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by irreversible cell damage, loss of neuronal cells and limited regeneration potential of the adult nervous system. Pluripotent stem cells are capable of differentiating into the multitude of cell types that compose the central and peripheral nervous systems and so have become the major focus of cell replacement therapies for the treatment of neurological disorders. Human embryonic stem cell (hESC) and human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived cells have both been extensively studied as cell therapies in a wide range of neurodegenerative disease.
  • Methods: we discuss the latest progress made with stem cell therapies targeting these pathologies and also evaluate the challenges in clinical application of human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-based therapies including risk of oncogenesis and tumor formation, immune rejection and difficulty in regeneration of the heterogeneous cell types composing the central nervous system.
  • Results: the increased risk of cancer caused by the use of hiPSCs raised serious reservations regarding the development of autologous cell therapies. Future directions will concentrate on banking clinically safe and universally compatible hPSC to overcome the challenge of immune rejection.
  • Conclusion: hPSC therapies provide genuine hope for a wide range of currently devastating degenerative diseases, and will eventually change the way we see aging and the associated tissue degeneration by redefining the impossible.
  • Keywords: neurodegenerative diseases, human pluripotent stem cells, cell therapy, regenerative medicine