Mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of ischemic stroke: progress and possibilities.

Mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of ischemic stroke: progress and possibilities. Stem Cells Cloning. 2010;3:157-63 Authors: Doeppner TR, Hermann DM Abstract Stroke is a major cause of death and long-term disability in industrialized countries, and the only causal therapy for stroke comprises recombinant tissue plasminogen activator(rt-PA)-mediated recanalization of the occluded vessel. New experimental strategies focus on neuroregenerative approaches, among which the application of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has gained increasing attention. MSCs, like other stem cells, have the capacity of unlimited self-renewal giving rise to differentiated cells from various cell lineages. Bone marrow (BM)-derived MSCs are the most frequently used MSC type in experimental stroke studies. Application of BM-derived MSCs and, in some studies, transplantation of MSCs from other tissue sources resulted in an improved functional recovery in experimental animals, although stroke volumes were not always affected by MSC transplantation. The underlying precise mechanisms of this phenomenon remain elusive, although MSC transplantation is considered to affect many diverse events, eg, by modulating the inflammatory milieu, stimulating endogenous neurogenesis and angiogenesis, and reducing glial scar formation. On the contrary, neuronal differentiation and integration of transplanted MSCs do not seem to affect stroke outcome significantly. On the basis...
Source: Stem Cells and Cloning: Advances and Applications - Category: Stem Cells Tags: Stem Cells Cloning Source Type: research