Chapter 4 Immortalized neural cell lines for CNS transplantation

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the physiological and functional properties of neural cell lines, either spontaneously arising or immortalized with oncogenes, as a means to replace lost neurons and ultimately restore function in the damaged mammalian central nervous system (CNS). Immortalized neural cell lines have provided important insight into fundamental principles of developmental neurobiology. These cell lines maintain the capacity to differentiate into neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes despite continued passage in cell culture, a property that is evident both in vitro and in vivo . The fact that many of these cell lines differentiate after engraftment into the CNS with morphological and functional properties, indistinguishable from endogenous neurons and glia, highlight three crucial conclusions from the studies discussed in the chapter. Firstly, the pluripotentiality of many immortalized neural precursor cell lines in vivo demonstrates that they can appropriately respond to epigenetic signals from the host CNS. Secondly, these data unequivocally confirm that the neonatal, and more importantly from a therapeutic consideration, the adult CNS continue to express those signals and can direct specific and regionally appropriate differentiation of those engrafted cells. Lastly, the data reviewed in the studies, discussed in the chapter, indicate that some neural cell lines can recognize micro-environmental signals from the lesioned adult CNS and/or the CNS genetically deficient in a specific neural cell type and preferentially differentiate along a lineage that is essential for functional repair.