Chapter 17 - Role of neurogenesis in regenerative medicine

Abstract

Organ donation and transplantation become complex due to the limited supply of organs and increasing demand of organ donors. Nowadays, development in regenerative medicine or tissue engineering is highly important, and scientists are optimistic about finding a solution to these problems. Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease (PD), Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis etc. are uncurable diseases. However, until now, no medicine is available, which will cure a cause rather than symptoms for example acetylcholine esterase inhibitors, Monoamine oxidase inhibitors used in the treatment of PD have symptomatic base of treatments. Altman and Das have proven that neurogenesis takes place in adult human brain, and new neurons are generated. So, stimulation of neurogenesis by using regenerative medicines will be a great therapeutic approach in the treatment of NDs. In short, during neurogenesis, morphogens, neurotransmitters, growth factors, and transcription factors play a very critical role. Stem cells such as native progenitor cells, mesenchymal stem cells are promising candidates to stimulate neurogenesis process in human brain. These stem cells have the ability to differentiate, proliferate, and finally mature into new neuronal cells into neurons, which integrate into existing brain neuronal network. The currently available animal models have shown promising results during preclinical studies, for example, improvement in motor symptoms after transplantation of brain tissues into PD patient, intravenous injection of human mesenchymal stem cells into mice, which results in an increase in average life of mice. But, there is need to dig deeper into it to bring these technologies into clinical stage to take maximum advantage for saving patient’s life span by curing the cause of disease rather than being symptomatic.