Abstract
A majority of the neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease are untreatable and occur primarily due to aging and rapidly changing lifestyles. The rodent Alzheimer's disease models are critical for investigating the underlying disease pathology and screening of novel therapeutic targets in preclinical settings. We aimed to characterize the stemness properties of human umbilical cord blood (hUCB) derived lineage-negative (Lin−) stem cells based on CD34 and CD117 expression as well as surface morphology using flow cytometry and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The efficacy of the stem cells was tested by its capacity to rescue the injury caused by intrahippocampal delivery of varying doses of amyloid beta. The hUCB Lin− stem cells reversed memory loss due to Aβ42-induced injury more effectively at micromolar concentration, and not picomolar concentration. More studies are required to delineate the underlying molecular events associated with hUCB Lin− stem cells.
Highlights
Neurodegenerative disorders that have affected millions of people worldwide are untreatable and worsen with age
The crystal violet dye dispersed throughout the hippocampus with a prominent needle track in the right hemisphere, shown in the coronal section visualized under a dissecting microscope, and only a needle track in the left hemisphere where a needle was inserted without injecting the dye (Figure 1b)
The parameters were analyzed using escape latency time, quadrant time, and the mean distance from the platform, which indicated the memory loss induced by Aβ42
Summary
Neurodegenerative disorders that have affected millions of people worldwide are untreatable and worsen with age. This includes Parkinson disease, ataxia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, glaucoma, Lewy body disease, microvascular brain injury, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and other dementias. The drugs and therapies available at present provide only symptomatic relief without alleviating or halting the disease progression. Most of the drugs that have been successful in preclinical studies have failed during clinical trials (Banik et al, 2015a). Eli Lilly developed a drug solanezumab, targeting amyloid with an aim to delay the progression of AD and subjected it to clinical trials, which eventually were terminated prematurely (Honig et al, 2018). There is an urgent need to test other alternative therapies
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