Neuroscience

The main objective of Neuroscience Program is to study the properties of neural stem cells (NSCs) and explore the possibilities to use these cells for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and stroke.

NSCs are derived from the embryonic stem (ES) cells or fetal and adult nervous system, and can generate different type of neural cells. The possibility to isolate and propagate NSCs and their potential applications in cell therapy have attracted a lot of research interest in recent years. The clinical team from Lund headed by Prof. Olle Lindval in collaboration with Prof. Anders Björklund, were the first to show in patients the proof of principle that cell transplantation therapy is feasible approach to treat the patients with Parkinson’s disease. However, this work was done by using aborted human fetus-derived cells and more work needs to be done to generate unlimited sources of the NSCs with proper characteristics.

The work with stem cell-based therapy in stroke is in initial phase and recently Dr. Zaal Kokaia started a consortium within EU to develop the preclinical protocol for cell therapy in stroke. Prof. Lindvall and Dr. Kokaia were the first in the world to show that the brain produces new neurons in response to stroke which opened new possibilities for cell therapy by developing the way to modulate and direct brains this self-repair mechanisms.

Conceptually, the idea behind this strategy is rather straightforward: NSCs can be isolated, expanded and/or immortalized in culture, genetically modified, and subsequently transplanted into the diseased human recipient. When grafted and integrated into the diseased nervous system, these cells may replace damaged or died endogenous cells, provide cellular support and facilitate plastic changes and cellular reorganization in the disease-affected part of the brain.

Recent findings showing the capacity of the brain to produce new neurons and glial cells in response to brain insults opens new possibilities for cell therapy by developing the way to modulate and direct this self-repair mechanisms towards the desired cell replacement. These fields are just starting to reveal all its potential, and many aspects related to basic biological properties of NSCs, and their possible application as a therapeutic tool, still has to be established.