Abstract
Emerging evidence suggests that multipotential stem cells-progenitors, isolated from the brain, spinal cord, and eye hold considerable promise to elucidate fundamental issues of brain development and treat neurodegenerative diseases. Therapeutic applications of neural stem cells have special appeal for the treatment of otherwise intractable degenerative diseases of the eye. However, the field of neural stem cell research is relatively nascent. Many issues related to the therapeutic use of neural stem cells-progenitors have not yet been addressed. Strategies must be developed to identify and enrich neural stem cellsprogenitors in a practical way. In addition, identification of optimal conditions for their maintenance, storage and differentiation into desirable cell types for cell-replacement therapy is critical. Therefore, the true potential of these cells in brain repair can only be realized with more information about mechanisms that regulate their proliferation and differentiation and by development of techniques that allow their prospective identification and enrichment.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 2743-2748 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science |
Volume | 42 |
Issue number | 12 |
State | Published - 2001 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ophthalmology
- Sensory Systems
- Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience