Therapeutic Effects of Mesenchymal Stem Cells on Cognitive Deficits

Abstract

Due to their multilineage differentiation capability and their potent immunosuppressive and proangiogenic characteristics, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been considered as new therapeutic agents for the treatment of inflammatory and degenerative diseases of the central nervous system. In vitro, MSCs may differentiate into neuron-like cells. In vivo, MSCs, in a juxtacrine and paracrine manner, suppress detrimental immune responses in the brain and spinal cord, attenuate neuroinflammation, and promote the repair and regeneration of injured neural tissue. MSCs produce a large number of trophic and growth factors, induce neovascularization, and prevent apoptotic loss of injured neural cells. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that is incurable and characterized by progressive cognitive dysfunction and memory loss. Since the incidence of AD has been continuously increasing in the past decade, new therapeutic agents for the treatment of AD are urgently needed. Several recently published experimental studies revealed that MSCs, through the delivery of neuroprotective and immunomodulatory microRNAs (miRNA), neural growth factors, and anti-inflammatory cytokines, significantly reduced neuronal loss, increased neurogenesis and synaptogenesis, and efficiently improved cognitive impairment. In this chapter, we summarized current knowledge about molecular and cellular mechanisms that were responsible for the MSC-based improvement of cognitive function in experimental animals, and we emphasized issues that should be addressed before MSCs and their secretome could be offered as a new human remedy for the treatment of AD.KeywordsAlzheimer’s diseaseCognitive impairmentMesenchymal stem cellsTherapy