Abstract
We here propose an updated concept of stem cells (SCs), with an emphasis on neural stem cells (NSCs). The conventional view, which has touched principally on the essential property of lineage multipotency (e.g., the ability of NSCs to differentiate into all neural cells), should be broadened to include the emerging recognition of biofunctional multipotency of SCs to mediate systemic homeostasis, evidenced in NSCs in particular by the secretion of neurotrophic factors. Under this new conceptual context and taking the NSC as a leading example, one may begin to appreciate and seek the “logic” behind the wide range of molecular tactics the NSC appears to serve at successive developmental stages as it integrates into and prepares, modifies, and guides the surrounding CNS micro- and macro-environment towards the formation and self-maintenance of a functioning adult nervous system. We suggest that embracing this view of the “multipotency” of the SCs is pivotal for correctly, efficiently, and optimally exploiting stem cell biology for therapeutic applications, including reconstitution of a dysfunctional CNS.
Highlights
Along with refinement of our understanding on the biology and translational potential of neural stem cells (NSCs) [1,2,3,4,5,6], there has been an increasingly appreciated paradigm shift regarding how the adult mammalian central nervous system (CNS) could be repaired for functional restoration
Since monoclonal derivation of progeny is obligatory to the definition of NSC: that is, a single cell must possess all the aforementioned attributes, which suggests the ready availability of NSCs, many studies, including ours, in the past two decades, provided hope that the use of NSCs might circumvent some limitations of presently available graft material and gene transfer vehicles and make feasible a broader range of therapeutic strategies
In this article, based on data mainly derived from studies on traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI), we seek to establish conceptually the biological principles of trophic factor delivery by stem cells as a novel approach to new therapeutic strategies based on developmental mechanisms [7]
Summary
Along with refinement of our understanding on the biology and translational potential of neural stem cells (NSCs) [1,2,3,4,5,6], there has been an increasingly appreciated paradigm shift regarding how the adult mammalian central nervous system (CNS) could be repaired for functional restoration. In this article, based on data mainly derived from studies on traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI), we seek to establish conceptually the biological principles of trophic factor delivery by stem cells as a novel approach to new therapeutic strategies based on developmental mechanisms [7].
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